That is the content of a letter sent to businessmen more than 20 years ago by the late General Vo Nguyen Giap, dated May 7, 2004, and suggested the need for a businessmen's day, a Vietnamese businessmen's award, given to typical businessmen who are not only good at production and business, getting rich but also actively contributing to hunger eradication and poverty reduction...
Those who break free from the constraints of the beaten path to thrive
In the letter, General Vo Nguyen Giap emphasized that Vietnamese entrepreneurs are the vanguard of the entire people, not resigned to poverty and backwardness, contributing to the creation of large and small "Dien Bien Phus" in the cause of innovation. With that point of view, the General emphasized: Entrepreneurs are the leaders and conductors of enterprises, must have the will to rise up in the spirit of innovation, creativity, think of things that no one has thought of, do things that have no precedent, with the consciousness of going beyond the constraints of the old ways, approaching the peaks of human intelligence, researching and applying advanced scientific and technological achievements. In particular, the General is concerned that Vietnamese entrepreneurs must "improve their management skills so that enterprises can continuously develop, become prestigious enterprises, with scale, and national and international stature".
Prime Minister Phan Van Khai with businessmen at the Ceremony to announce Vietnamese Businessmen's Day October 13, 2004
More than 5 months later, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai signed Decision No. 990, taking October 13 every year as "Vietnam Entrepreneurs' Day". In order to promote the role and tradition of the Vietnamese business community, encourage all social classes to contribute to the construction and development of enterprises, and make the business community increasingly stronger, meeting the requirements of the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country, the Prime Minister requested that the organization of the annual Vietnam Entrepreneurs' Day must be practical, economical, effective, avoiding formalities, ensuring the requirements of educating the tradition of patriotism, self-reliance, proactiveness and creativity of the business community, encouraging the emulation movement in production and business, improving the discipline, ethics and business culture of enterprises and businesspeople.
At the same time, Vietnam Entrepreneurs Day is also an occasion to commend and reward in appropriate forms enterprises and entrepreneurs who are good at business, well implementing the Party's guidelines, policies, and the State's laws, and organizations and individuals with achievements in building and developing enterprises. On October 13 of that year, at the annual meeting between the Prime Minister and more than 500 enterprises representing the business community nationwide, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai announced this decision.
Uncle Ho's letter to Vietnamese industrialists and merchants 13.10.1945
SOURCE: HO CHI MINH COMPLETE WORKS, VOLUME 4, PAGE 49, NATIONAL POLITICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE 2009
President Ho Chi Minh (Letter to Vietnamese industrialists and merchants, Cuu Quoc newspaper, No. 66, October 13, 1945)
It has been exactly 2 decades (October 13, 2004 - October 13, 2024) since our country has had Vietnam Entrepreneurs Day. Dr. Nguyen Minh Thao, Head of the Department of Business Environment and Competitiveness (Central Institute for Economic Management), recalls that to have Vietnam Entrepreneurs Day, we must go back to 1999 when the first Enterprise Law was promulgated, opening an important direction for the development of the private economy. “The 1999 Enterprise Law created the premise for a series of economic and administrative reforms and improved business environment in our country.
Thanks to the impact of the Enterprise Law, citizens have been given the right to freely do business according to the provisions of the law, creating millions of new, stable jobs for workers, contributing to promoting economic growth and solving social problems. From that turning point, the role of enterprises and entrepreneurs was viewed very differently from before, promoting many changes in both the quantity and quality of enterprises. From not being allowed, to explosive development, within just 3 years after the law was enacted, the number of newly established enterprises was 1.5 times higher than the previous 10 years (1991-1999)", Ms. Thao recalled.
According to Dr. Nguyen Minh Thao, what General Vo Nguyen Giap stated in his letter to businessmen and the subsequent institutional reforms by amending and promulgating open legal regulations related to businesses, helped the country have a strong, powerful team of businesses that have reached out internationally as it is today.
Why October 13?
Going back in history, after the day of reading the Declaration of Independence giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (September 2, 1945), during the Golden Week, Hanoi industrialists and merchants were the first social officials to be received by President Ho Chi Minh at the Presidential Palace. Despite being busy with a thousand and one things, he paid great attention to the Vietnamese businessmen and merchants. On October 13, 1945, when the businessmen gathered to establish the "National Salvation Industry and Commerce Group" and joined the Viet Minh Front, Uncle Ho wrote a letter of encouragement and support. His "Letter to the Vietnamese Industrialists and Merchants" was published in the National Salvation Newspaper No. 66 on the same day, affirming the important role of the industrial and commercial forces in building the national economy.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh talks with representatives of private corporations on the sidelines of the Government Standing Committee's meeting with large enterprises, September 21, 2024
Uncle Ho's letter of less than 200 words can be considered the first document of our Party and State towards Vietnamese enterprises and businessmen. At the same time, this is also the first call for patriotic emulation that Uncle Ho made to the business community. In the letter, Uncle Ho called the industrial and commercial community "Your Excellencies", opening the letter in a friendly and respectful manner: "To you, the Industrial and Commercial Community. Hearing that the Industrial and Commercial Community has united into the "Industrial and Commercial Rescue Corps" and joined the Viet Minh Front, I am very happy. Currently, the "Industrial and Commercial Rescue Corps" is operating to do many things that benefit the country and the people, I very much welcome and look forward to many good results".
It can be seen that Uncle Ho highly respected and affirmed that businessmen are a part of the great national solidarity bloc and the "Industrial and Commercial Rescue Corps", an organization of businessmen, is a member of the country's political system - a member of the Viet Minh Front. Uncle Ho wrote very clearly about the economic construction task of enterprises and businessmen: "While other sectors of the nation are working hard to gain complete independence for the country, the Industrial and Commercial sector must work to build a stable and prosperous economy and finance", "National affairs and family affairs always go hand in hand. A prosperous national economy means the businesses of industrialists and merchants are prosperous".
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the inauguration ceremony of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) at the Ho Chi Minh City Hi-Tech Park on September 25, 2024. Up to now, we have businessmen who are USD billionaires, brands that have crossed the ocean, reached out to the world, and are recognized by the international market.
Uncle Ho's teachings on the development of enterprises and entrepreneurs are not only contained in the historic letter dated October 13, 1945, but are also reflected in many of his speeches and writings related to the industrial and commercial community. Uncle Ho criticized the disease of too many meetings as well as the tendency to pursue quantity in production, paying little attention to quality. While production must be "fast, large, good, cheap", producers must be honest, make good goods for people to use, and should not display good goods while selling bad ones... Nearly 8 decades have passed, but Uncle Ho's thoughts on enterprises and entrepreneurs stated in that letter still hold true. Over time, this community has grown stronger and stronger, becoming a pioneering force in the industrialization and modernization of the country.
Vietnam has surpassed the 1 million business milestone.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Manh Quan, Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship Research, commented: Uncle Ho had a vision of the role of entrepreneurs very early. In the years when Vietnam had just escaped from colonial rule, he clearly identified the Government's policy of not eliminating or depriving the entire private economy but still using it as an integral part of the entire economy. Only when the people are rich can the country be strong. It was this awareness and concept that opened up the "golden development period" of entrepreneurs and the private economy from the 50s and 60s of the last century and has developed strongly until now.
The team of entrepreneurs is growing stronger and stronger, meeting the requirements of the country's industrialization and modernization.
In fact, in just 20 years since the establishment of Vietnam Entrepreneurs' Day, the number of enterprises has increased dramatically. If in 2004, the whole country had about 90,000 enterprises operating, but only 60,000 enterprises had registered tax codes, then by the end of August this year, the number of enterprises operating nationwide was nearly 1.2 million. Among them, we have entrepreneurs who are USD billionaires, brands that have crossed the ocean, reached the world, and are recognized by the international market. Dr. Nguyen Minh Thao commented: Over the past 20 years, Vietnam has joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), participated in 19 bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), and new generation FTAs. From a country with a trade deficit of more than 5.5 billion USD in 2004, over the past 10 years, Vietnam has had a continuous trade surplus; in 2023, the whole country will have a trade surplus of 28 billion USD.
“After 20 years, our country's legal system has changed greatly. From the Enterprise Law, the legal system has been expanded and adjusted in the spirit of innovation. The Investment Law has also been amended according to the approach of choosing - rejecting, instead of choosing - giving as before. That is, whatever the law does not prohibit, businesses and people have the right to do. Institutions moving towards the market can create leverage, but the important thing is the resilience of businesses. It is the growth of businesses that creates the driving force for development,” Dr. Nguyen Minh Thao emphasized and affirmed: “From businesses, jobs are created, income is created, and growth is promoted. No country develops without the development of businesses. Because they are the factor that creates jobs, stimulates creativity and competition.
Therefore, it is necessary to continue removing barriers that make it difficult for businesses. Institutional reform includes policy reform and implementation institutional reform. How to improve the internal capacity of businesses, opportunities to access capital, resources... For businesses and projects with potential and good capacity, boldly untie them to do it. It is necessary to loosen the mechanism for private enterprises to participate in many fields that are considered "forbidden areas", only state-owned enterprises are responsible for, in the energy sector for example. That is the room that Vietnam has in hand to make a breakthrough in growth and develop the country's economy".
According to Resolution No. 66 dated May 9, 2024 on the Government's Action Program to implement Resolution No. 41 of the Politburo on building and promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the new era: By 2030, there will be at least 2 million enterprises; 10 Vietnamese entrepreneurs will be on the list of world USD billionaires; 5 most powerful entrepreneurs in Asia voted by prestigious world organizations.
“Our private economic transformation is slower than that of many countries. In such a context, the resilience of entrepreneurs and businesses plays an important role. Without resilience, it is impossible to overcome so many barriers to export goods with such a large output. Thanks to FTAs and new-generation FTAs, which require institutional changes from within, businesses have been encouraged to change and innovate, aiming to have higher quality products that comply with the strict principles and criteria of developed markets.”
Dr. Nguyen Minh Thao , Head of Business Environment and Competitiveness Department (Central Institute for Economic Management)
Thanhnien.vn
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/20-nam-doanh-nhan-viet-nam-185241009162845836.htm
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