VCCI: For the Sustainable Development of Business Community

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) will host the fifth National Congress from September 11 to 12. This event will review the fourth term (2003-2008), preview operating orientations from 2008 to 2013, elect the new Board of Management, and amend the Charter to suit with the WTO membership and deeper economic integration.

 

The congress takes place when the global economic context is experiencing volatile changes and the national economy is also suffering instability. This requires VCCI to make changes to its action plans.

 

The VCCI Board of Management is to be renamed to the VCCI Steering Board and it will have around 75 members instead of current 55. Representatives from big companies and industry associations will be given seats in the board.

 

The tasks of VCCI are to collect all opinions and expectations of enterprises and send them to policymaking bodies. This will help Vietnam to continue building laws and creating a favourable investment and business climate as well as tackling difficulties for enterprises.

Firstly, the Charter will provide functions and tasks of the board in building the business community with individual companies more clearly. It will be added the roles of VCCI in representing, associating and supporting entrepreneurs in addition to “traditional subjects” of business communities, industry associations and employers. Businessmen impossibly disintegrate from their businesses and they are becoming greater forces and playing decisive roles in the development of enterprises. Their needs and expectations need to be reflected correctly, sufficiently and timely. As the voice of the business community, VCCI has made great effort to support and reflect the voice of enterprises, entrepreneurs and employers. This role needs to be officially recorded on the Charter of VCCI.

 

Secondly, the new charter will supplement missions and activities that the State officially assigns/entrusts the VCCI. It will add tasks that VCCI has implemented with great efforts to create positive effects on business environment and to encourage businessmen to enrich themselves, the country and the society. These tasks include researches, surveys and appraisals of policy and law effects; supporting activities for business communities and industry associations in the international economic integration, especially WTO-related issues. Besides, we need to make changes in conditions, rights and duties of press agencies, associate members and honorary members to encourage VCCI memberships and ensure equality among member groups with same/different conditions.

 

The Steering Board, apart from member strengthening, will have an operating mechanism suitable for associations and big firms like Business Association Council, Industry - Finance Committee and CEO Club.

In the context of speedier reform, industrialisation, modernisation and international economic integration, and before the fast-growing and demanding development of the business community, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with its greater roles and higher positions, needs to continue to reform its organisation and operations toward the basic following principles. It represents the national business community, industry/business associations and employers in the international arena. It actively takes part in the construction and perfection of our socialist-oriented market economy, proactively promotes the healthy and fair development of international economic institutions and creates a favourable business environment for enterprises. It will support the growth of the business communities and enterprises to compete with the international rivals in the international economic integration process, establish the harmonious labour relationship, raise social corporate responsibilities, contribute to poverty reduction, solve social issues and protect the environment and sustainable development.

 

To carry out the above objectives, VCCI focuses on the following tasks:

 

Accelerating researches and working out realities of business development and international economic integration to propose solutions to improve investment and business environments, enhance corporate competitiveness, and take advantage of opportunities from the globalisation process; Participating more deeply and more effectively in the process of policymaking and lawmaking to ensure the voice of VCCI and make VCCI a reliable information and advisory channel for the Party and the State.

 

Besides, VCCI will encourage enterprises and entrepreneurs to build corporate culture, code of conducts and corporate social responsibility, protect the environment, create employment, and reduce poverty and other social issues. It will support and direct business associations to apply effective operating regimes.

 

Enhancing domestic and international cooperative relationships to build and develop business supporting networks. Regarding domestic relationship, VCCI will focus on expanding and enhancing cooperation with competent authorities, localities and industry associations. Regarding international cooperation, it will effectively and practically participate in and raise voices at international and regional conferences and seminars to back Vietnamese enterprises in economic integration, especially activities in the frameworks of WTO, APEC, ASEAN, GMS, ACMECS, PECC, ICC, CACCI and ASEAN CCI etc.

Especially, VCCI will focus on building a model to bridge small and medium-sized enterprises with big companies and economic groups to enhance their cooperation efficiency to compete with foreign rivals and create premise for Vietnamese enterprises to join the global value chain. It will continue carrying out programmes and projects to support SMEs to attach with local economic development objectives, to create jobs and reduce poverty in accordance with the National Poverty Reduction Programme of the Government for the 2006-2010 period. VCCI will execute the PRISED Project and the Challenge Fund to support innovation projects and SME development projects to serve the poverty reduction goal. It will implement economic region linking projects to take advantage of regional potentialities and advantages to support enterprises to develop the local economy.

 

On the occasion of celebrating 45^th founding anniversary and organising the fifth congress, VCCI will be conferred Ho Chi Minh Medal for its contributions to the national economic development. This is the official recognition of the Party and the State toward the service of VCCI officials for the national economic development in general and business development in particular. This is also a great mission for VCCI and the business community in the coming time to bring Vietnam out of the poor ranking and develop Vietnam into a modernised nation. Besides, the Party and the State also presents the banner “VCCI: Dynamics - Creativity - Associating Enterprises for Integration and Sustainable Development.”