Fortune Magazine (USA) has just announced the ranking of the Top 500 largest enterprises in Southeast Asia (Southeast Asia 500, called Fortune SEA 500). This is the first year Fortune has ranked the 500 largest enterprises in Southeast Asia, after famous global rankings such as Fortune 500, Fortune Global 500, top most admired companies in the world... The ranking is based on total revenue and financial indicators of enterprises from 7 countries in the region, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Cambodia.
Fortune’s focus on Southeast Asia is no coincidence. The region is proving increasingly important in the global economy thanks to shifting supply chains and rapidly growing economies. The ranking is based on the companies’ 2023 earnings. However, Fortune also said that the revenue and profits of the 500 companies in the Fortune SEA 500 ranking fell over the past year. The change was driven by a weak energy market, which overshadowed impressive growth in many other industries.
In the first ranking dedicated to this region, Vietnam has 70 units honored in Fortune SEA 500 and 13 units in the Top 100. These include large corporations and enterprises such as Petrolimex, Vingroup, Hoa Phat, Mobile World, Vietnam Airlines, VietjetAir, Vinamilk, Agribank, BIDV, VietinBank...
VinFast electric car factory in Hai Phong
Not counting state-owned enterprises, many big names have appeared in the private sector, led by Vingroup. This group is ranked No. 1 in the domestic private sector by Fortune and 45th in all 7 countries in the Fortune SEA 500 rankings. In addition to the criteria of asset size, Vingroup is highly appreciated in financial indicators and business performance. In 2023, the Group achieved revenue of more than 6.77 billion USD and profit of 86.3 million USD, total assets of 27,521 million USD. Currently, Vingroup operates in many sectors, ranging from industry - technology, trade - services to social charity. In particular, VinFast - Vingroup's pure electric car brand - has successfully listed its shares on the NASDAQ stock exchange (USA) and is rapidly expanding its presence in North America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asian countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand... Recently, VinFast was also honored by Time Magazine (USA) in the top 100 most influential companies in the world in 2024.
Or, Hoa Phat Group was recorded by Fortune as having revenue in 2023 of 4.99 billion USD, after-tax profit of 287 million USD and total assets of 7.74 billion USD. Hoa Phat is the largest steel manufacturer in Vietnam and the leading one in the ASEAN region. In the near future, when the Hoa Phat Dung Quat 2 project to develop high-quality hot-rolled steel (HRC) products for automobile production; low-carbon steel to produce products such as canned food, household appliances, steel structures; HRC steel for the production of high-strength, weather-resistant container shells... is completed from the first quarter of 2025, Hoa Phat will become the largest steel manufacturer in Southeast Asia and in the top 30 largest steel companies in the world. The growth of Hoa Phat also brought Vietnam to 12th place in the world in crude steel production in 2023. Or in the field of information technology services, FPT ranked first and ranked 160th in the Fortune SEA 500 list...
VinFast Factory
Not only are Vietnamese enterprises growing stronger and entering the world rankings, but the number of businessmen recognized as USD billionaires in the world is also higher than before. In 2022, the number of USD billionaires in Vietnam was recorded for the first time by Forbes Magazine (USA) at 7 people. In 2024, the number of USD billionaires in Vietnam decreased to 6 people, including Mr. Pham Nhat Vuong, Chairman of Vingroup; Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, General Director of VietJet Air; Mr. Tran Dinh Long, Chairman of Hoa Phat Group; Mr. Ho Hung Anh, Chairman of Techcombank; Mr. Nguyen Dang Quang, Chairman of Masan Group; and Mr. Tran Ba Duong, Chairman of Truong Hai Auto Corporation (Thaco Group). Although still modest, the number of USD billionaire businessmen is higher than in previous years.
In particular, in early May, the Government issued Resolution No. 66 to implement Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW of the Politburo on building and promoting the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the new era. Accordingly, the program sets out that from now until 2030, there will be at least 2 million enterprises, of which many entrepreneurs will be formed and developed as leaders of strong economic groups with potential and competitiveness in the domestic and international markets. By 2030, there will be at least 10 Vietnamese entrepreneurs on the list of world USD billionaires, 5 most powerful entrepreneurs in Asia voted by prestigious international organizations. The number of enterprises ranked in the list of enterprises with the highest brand value by prestigious international ranking organizations increases by 10% each year... This further demonstrates that Vietnamese enterprises and entrepreneurs play an important role in the development of the economy and society in general.
In the consumer - retail sector of essential goods in Vietnam, Masan Group is the leading company in Fortune's rankings.
Dr. Vu Tien Loc, member of the National Assembly's Economic Committee, said that when looking back at the history over the past decades, we have created a miraculous story of the remarkable development of the Vietnamese business community and entrepreneurs. From a place that was not on the national economic map, thanks to the renovation initiated and led by our Party, it has ignited the aspiration and the first wave of startups in the economy, so that today we have over 6 million business entities including nearly 1 million enterprises; 5.2 million business households and tens of millions of entrepreneurs steering the economic ship, and the private economic sector alone has contributed about 45% of GDP.
Entrepreneurs are the main force behind a great poverty alleviation effort, lifting tens of millions of our compatriots out of poverty, turning the country into a middle-income country and steadily moving towards prosperity. However, we still have too few large and medium-sized enterprises. Labor productivity and competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises are generally not high. We do not have many enterprises and brands on par with the world. The scale of our economy is large, but the proportion of the informal sector is still high, accounting for 30% of the economy's GDP.
"I believe that Vietnamese enterprises will be successful in starting up and rebuilding when the global economy is being restructured, global supply chains are shifting and Vietnam has a favorable geopolitical and geo-economic position. With its socio-political stability, strong energy and entrepreneurial spirit, Vietnam is being chosen as a destination for global supply chains, especially in the fields of digital technology, high technology (including semiconductor chip technology), clean energy, circular economy...", said Dr. Vu Tien Loc.
Economist Le Dang Doanh commented that the list of the 500 largest companies in the region is only based on revenue from the 2023 fiscal year, which may not show a complete picture, but it helps us have a more serious view on developing a strong team of Vietnamese entrepreneurs and enterprises in the spirit of Resolution 41 of the Government.
In terms of potential, Vietnam has an abundant labor market, a golden population of over 100 million people, a society with a large number of young people, high consumption demand, high demand for jobs, a desire to start a business, get rich... the number of enterprises in the list of 500 strong enterprises in the Southeast Asian region is still modest. Because with the current population size of Vietnam, the number of enterprises less than 1 million is still low. Because the number of enterprises is still small, Vietnamese labor - considered the potential of the country - is always in a surplus state, having to go abroad to find work. It is common in recent times that young Vietnamese people go to Japan, Taiwan, and Korea to work a lot. Even in recent years, exporting Vietnamese labor to countries in the Southeast Asian region such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia... is also very popular; while these are markets that are competing with Vietnam in attracting investment due to their potential for abundant unskilled labor.
HRC steel production at Hoa Phat Group - HPG
Mr. Le Dang Doanh emphasized: If Vietnam has more large and famous enterprises, it will create better competitiveness, thereby creating more jobs, the number of Vietnamese enterprises with a position in the Southeast Asian region will improve significantly. In particular, participating in the global supply chain will help enterprises become stronger. From there, Mr. Doanh believes that in order for enterprises to be strong, have a certain voice and position in the region and globally, first of all, there must be a large enough number of enterprises to compete, and it is necessary to promote the upgrading of household businesses. Because of the small-scale activities of households, business owners themselves do not make efforts to improve quality according to international standards, innovate to participate in the import-export market.
"While the Vietnamese economy has a huge advantage in the international market, Vietnam has signed 17 free trade agreements (FTAs), and is friends with all over the world, goods produced here, produced by Vietnam, under the Vietnamese brand should be globally available and the industry should be known in the international market. However, the main export benefits of Vietnam are for foreign enterprises. The reason is that we lack a strong Vietnamese enterprise team, and international-class enterprises. To do so, it is necessary to amend policies for enterprises, with the aim of creating fairness for enterprises and raising the position of enterprises. In addition, there is a legal framework to support enterprises in improving their competitiveness and competing equally with other partners participating in the regional market," economic expert Le Dang Doanh emphasized.
Overview of the ceremony announcing FPT's 1 billion USD revenue in IT services for foreign markets
Agreeing, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Manh Quan, Director of the Institute for Enterprise Research and Development, expressed his impatience when the Vietnamese business community could not grow as expected. He noted that 2023 was a sad economic year globally. Many businesses "fell off their horses" and many businesses remained and developed. In fact, Vietnam is somewhat fortunate that amid global economic fluctuations, our ability to respond is better due to the agricultural economy, with many businesses developing based on natural resources. "In the value chain, Vietnamese agricultural products are at the top of the chain from planting to harvesting, exporting to other countries, thereby increasing revenue significantly. The characteristic of food products is that no matter how much war or conflict there is, people still need to eat, so the export of Vietnamese agricultural products has grown well, thereby helping businesses operating in the export sector and related services develop well, which is an advantage. So when the global economy returns to normal, will we have the strength to continue to grow?", Mr. Quan raised the question.
In addition, according to Mr. Nguyen Manh Quan, sales and revenue of an enterprise are only one of 26 groups of indicators to evaluate an enterprise. To build and develop enterprises with stature, large scale, and influence in the region, many factors are needed. Including financial management capacity, operation, effective use of resources, etc. Therefore, there need to be many policies to support and encourage the business community to grow stronger without leaving them alone on this journey. For example, Vietnam's biggest advantage is human resources, but investment of enterprises related to human resources is quite vague. Up to now, policies to develop Vietnamese human resources to participate in the global supply chain, human resources serving the semiconductor industry have also been widely implemented. However, the participation of the technology business community in developing resources to welcome this opportunity is still very low, if any, it is only prominent in a few large companies that can be counted on the fingers. Therefore, there needs to be supportive and open policies for businesses to take advantage of all available resources, do not let them have to invest money abroad, hire foreign workers just because of weak human resources...
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doanh-nghiep-viet-tang-toc-185240622214228268.htm
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