
Hanoi (VNA) – The VietnamInstitute for Development Strategies, the Ministry of Planning and Investment,and Konrad-Adenaeur-Stiftung Vietnam (KAS) on August 31 hꦦeld a workshop on the assessment of the top 500 Vietnamese private enterprises (VPE500) in the 2021-2022 period when Vietnam’s economy was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the end of 2021, Vietnam had 694,200private enterprises, accounting for 96.6% of the total operating ones, andemploying 58.1% of the total workers. The private enterprises’ assess and netrevenue made up 59.3% and 57.8% of all enterprises in Vietnam, respectively. At that time, only 0.22% of privateenterprises in Vietnam had a size of 500 workhands and more while the ratesin foreign-invested enterprises ad State-owned enterprises were 8.29% and19.52%, respectively. According to the assessment, the VPE500 group operates outstandingly andstill maintains a good growth rate compared to domestic private enterprises ingeneral. During 2019-2021, the average size and total assets of the VPE500 member enterprises were 160 and 376 timeshigher respectively than those of other private companies in general. The VPE500 accounts for a small proportion of the number of businesses butmakes a large contribution to the operation of the domestic private enterprises. Between 2019 and 2021, on average, VPE500 accounted for only 0.075% of thetotal number of domestic private enterprises but created 12% of total jobs inthe domestic private sector. VPE500’s assets accounted for 28% of total and generated 18.4% ofthe gross revenue of domestic private enterprises. Its contribution to thestate budget accounted for 18.4% of the total by all domesticprivate enterprises. Dr Nguyen Toan Thang, head of VIDS’sInternational Relations Department and member of the VPE500-2023 researchteam, said that although present in 53 out of the 63 provinces and cities acrossthe country, about 75% of the VPE500 are in the Red River Delta and the southeast. In general, the VPE500 is formed based onthe infrastructure, resources, and market advantages of localities. A majorityof the VPE500 are operating in the manufacturing, processing, trade, andconstruction industries. Enterprises operating in real estate,construction, commerce, garment, and food processing which were heavily hit byCOVID-19 are no longer listed in this year’s VPE500. Meanwhile, businesses in the banking andinsurance sectors still maintain their positions in the rankings. They are athigh rankings and see few changes in rank. Thang said that policies for businesses in the coming time should notonly facilitate businesses in entering the market but also support them tosurvive and grow. In particular, large enterprises should be encouraged to make more investment to improve productivity and gradually shift to in-depth growth. The Government should have policies to promote business linkages,encouraging large enterprises, State-owned enterprises, and foreign-investedones to form joint ventures and link with domestic small- and medium-sizedenterprises. Each locality should develop its leading private enterprises based onlocal advantages./.
VNA