Economic groups and state-owned corporations play an important role in orienting, regulating, leading and promoting socio-economic development for the goal of a rich people, strong country, democracy, fairness and civilization.
State economic groups were formed and developed on the basis of Decision No. 91-TTg, dated March 7, 1994, of the Prime Minister, "On pilot establishment of business groups"; Decision No. 58/2005/QD-TTg, dated March 23, 2005, "On approval of the pilot project to establish the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group"...; in particular, the 3rd Central Conference, Session IX, issued the Resolution "On continuing to arrange, innovate, develop and improve the efficiency of state-owned enterprises"; Decree No. 101/2009/ND-CP, dated November 5, 2009, of the Government, "On pilot establishment, organization, operation and management of state economic groups"; Decree No. 69/2014/ND-CP, dated July 15, 2014, “On state economic groups and state corporations”… Resolution No. 12-NQ/TW, dated June 3, 2017, of the 5th Central Conference, Session XII “On innovation to improve the efficiency of state-owned enterprise operations” defines the goal: Consolidating and developing a number of large-scale state economic groups, operating effectively, with the ability to compete regionally and internationally in a number of key sectors and fields of the economy… Currently, Vietnam has 10 state economic groups: Military Telecommunications Group; Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group; Vietnam National Coal - Mineral Industries Group; Bao Viet Finance - Insurance Group; Vietnam Textile and Garment Group; Vietnam Rubber Industry Group; Vietnam Electricity Group; Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group; Vietnam Chemical Industry Group; Vietnam National Petroleum Group.
Article 194 of the 2020 Law on Enterprises stipulates economic groups and state-owned corporations as follows: 1. Economic groups and state-owned corporations of economic sectors are groups of companies that have relationships with each other through ownership of shares, capital contributions or other associations. Economic groups and state-owned corporations are not a type of enterprise, do not have legal status, and do not have to be registered for establishment according to the provisions of this law. 2. Economic groups and state-owned corporations have parent companies, subsidiaries and other member companies. Parent companies, subsidiaries and each member company in the economic group and state-owned corporation have the rights and obligations of an independent enterprise according to the provisions of law (1) . Based on the above legal basis, the role of state-owned economic groups in the socialist-oriented market economy in Vietnam is reflected in the following aspects:
Firstly, economic groups and state-owned corporations play a core and leading role in leading the economy and ensuring social security issues of the country .
The 13th National Party Congress affirmed: “Developing strong Vietnamese enterprises to become the backbone of the national economy; maintaining major balances, focusing on ensuring economic security; constantly strengthening the national economic potential” (2) . The role of state economic groups in leading the state economy is very important, deciding the stable and sustainable development of the national economy. State economic groups not only bring benefits to the country, contribute to promoting economic growth, creating tax sources for the state, attracting foreign investment, limiting trade deficit, controlling inflation, promoting the process of industrialization and modernization of the country, enhancing the competitiveness of the national economy in the international arena..., but also contribute significantly to solving employment for workers, training high-quality human resources, especially leaders, managers, and highly skilled engineers. The development of state economic groups has a profound and comprehensive impact on all fields and activities of the country. The relationships, joint ventures and associations of economic groups ensure the synchronous and smooth operation of the country's economy. Major problems of the country such as epidemics, natural disasters, etc. have the joint efforts of state economic groups and it is the support and sharing of those difficulties that have contributed significantly to stabilizing the macro economy, creating favorable conditions for all economic sectors to develop.
Second, economic groups and state-owned corporations play an important role in implementing the political and social tasks of the Party and State .
Economic groups and state-owned corporations operate in key fields, industries, important areas, national defense and security of strategic national importance that other enterprises and economic sectors cannot undertake or undertake but are not effective due to financial and capacity limitations... Therefore, in addition to production and business, economic groups also carry out political and social tasks assigned by the Party and State in conjunction with ensuring national security, energy security, national defense and security, social policies, building and firmly protecting the socialist Fatherland of Vietnam...
Third, economic groups and state-owned corporations are important forces to enhance the competitiveness of the economy, bringing benefits to the country .
The 13th National Party Congress emphasized: "Improving the resilience of the economy to negative impacts from external fluctuations" (3) . Accordingly, the fact that state economic groups possess abundant labor resources, modern science and technology, business and production, and the ability to enter into joint ventures and partnerships with large corporations and large companies in the world will contribute significantly to improving the competitiveness of the country's economy today. State economic groups build their brands and images from their practical operational capacity, bringing in large revenues for the state budget, creating jobs for workers, improving the people's living standards, ensuring social progress and equity, for the goal of a rich people, a strong country, democracy, fairness, and civilization.
The current status of the role of economic groups and state-owned corporations in the socialist-oriented market economy in Vietnam in recent times
In recent times, under the leadership of the Party, the management of the State, the administration of the Government and the Prime Minister, economic groups and state-owned corporations have performed well their role as locomotives in leading the country's economy, making many contributions to the implementation of socio-economic development targets and goals; especially, in the face of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the complicated fluctuations of the world situation, especially the conflict between Russia and Ukraine..., state-owned economic groups have actively implemented political and social tasks, regularly maintained production and business activities, fully supplied necessities to all classes of people, contributing to ensuring national defense, security, social security and macroeconomic stability. During their operations, state-owned economic groups have always received the attention and favor of the State in accessing resources for the country's socio-economic development, such as capital, facilities, infrastructure, consumer markets, business partners, land, development opportunities, etc. Therefore, despite being affected by many adverse impacts of the world, regional and domestic situations, the profits of state-owned economic groups have remained stable. In 2022, the total pre-tax profit of 18/19 corporations and general corporations is estimated to reach VND 39,219 billion (equal to 173% of the plan and 117% compared to 2021); the total revenue of 19 state-owned corporations and general corporations is estimated to reach VND 1.1 million billion (equal to 114% of the plan and 133% compared to 2021); 15/19 corporations and general corporations completed and exceeded the revenue plan; 17/19 corporations and general corporations completed and exceeded the pre-tax profit plan; 16/19 corporations and general corporations completed and exceeded the state budget payment plan (4). Typically, in 2022, the Military Telecommunications Group (Viettel) had a consolidated revenue of VND 163.8 trillion, up 6.1%, pre-tax profit reached VND 43.1 trillion, up 3% compared to 2021, paying 38 trillion VND to the state budget (5) ; Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group had revenue of 931.2 trillion VND, pre-tax profit of 82.2 trillion VND, paying 170.6 trillion VND to the state budget, accounting for 9.5% of the total national budget revenue (6) ...
However, in addition to the achieved results, the role of state-owned corporations in developing a socialist-oriented market economy still has some limitations and weaknesses. The production and business results of a number of state-owned economic corporations are not commensurate with the State's investment capital, operational efficiency is still low, not meeting the requirements and tasks of the period of promoting industrialization, modernization of the country, opening up, and deep international integration; a number of state-owned corporations and groups are operating at a loss, failing to achieve the set targets, investment and development lack focus, capital disbursement is slow, many projects are behind schedule, not put into operation, causing waste and great loss of State assets. In 2021, the whole country had 58/673 enterprises (accounting for 9% of the total number of state-owned enterprises) with losses, with a total loss of 15,785 billion VND; There are 138/673 enterprises (accounting for 21% of the total number of state-owned enterprises) with accumulated losses of 50,152 trillion VND; 9/75 parent companies have not yet preserved their equity. Specifically: Parent company - Vietnam Chemical Group has accumulated losses of 2,613 billion VND; Parent company - Vietnam Railway Corporation has accumulated losses of 1,822 billion VND; Parent company - Vietnam Coffee Corporation has accumulated losses of 453 billion VND; Parent company - Ho Chi Minh City State Financial Investment Company Limited has accumulated losses of 426 billion VND; Parent company - General Corporation 15 accumulated loss of 156 billion VND (7) ... In addition, the system of legal documents related to the production activities of state corporations and general corporations is not complete, comprehensive, unified, and does not clearly distinguish the state administrative management function from the state ownership function with economic corporations; the work of inspection, examination, and supervision of production and business activities of state corporations and general corporations has not been carried out regularly, focusing on weak links and weak aspects to detect violations and handle them promptly; the heads of some state corporations and general corporations have not fully promoted their roles and responsibilities, their leadership, direction, and management capacity is still limited, and they even let violations occur that must be handled according to the provisions of law... "The business efficiency and contribution of most state-owned enterprises are still low, not commensurate with the resources invested by the State. Many state-owned enterprises are operating at a loss, with losses, corruption, waste, and negativity with investment projects worth thousands of billions of dong "shelved", exacerbating bad bank debt and national public debt, causing public outrage" (8) .
The causes of the above limitations and weaknesses include both objective and subjective factors. Regarding objective factors : 1- The rapid, complex and unpredictable developments of the world and regional situation affect the production and business processes of state-owned corporations and general companies; 2- The mechanisms and policies for state management of the operations of state-owned corporations and general companies are not complete, comprehensive and unified; 3- The fluctuations of the real estate market, bond market, and stock market; 4- High inflation and interest rates in many countries around the world affect the investment, production and business cooperation processes of state-owned corporations and general companies... Regarding subjective factors : 1- The awareness of the position, role and importance of state-owned corporations and general companies for the stable and sustainable development of the country is not profound and comprehensive; 2 - The leadership, direction and management capacity, especially the capacity to concretize and institutionalize the Party's viewpoints, guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws of some heads of state-owned corporations and general corporations are inadequate and slow, and do not put the interests of the Party, the State and the people above personal interests, showing signs of "group interests", market manipulation, even degradation in political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, corruption and negativity; 3 - The work of inspection, examination and supervision of state management of state-owned corporations and general corporations is sometimes and in some places not very effective.
Some solutions to promote the role of state-owned corporations and groups in the current socialist-oriented market economy
Firstly, continue to adjust, supplement and perfect legal institutions to remove difficulties and obstacles in the socio-economic development of state-owned corporations and groups.
The 13th National Party Congress clearly stated: “Building a legal framework and a favorable environment to promote development, start-ups, innovation, digital transformation... Focus on amending regulations, contradictions, and conflicts that hinder economic development” (9) . Accordingly, competent agencies and functions shall study, consider, review, and promulgate stricter, clearer, and more complete legal regulations on the organizational model and operating mechanism of state-owned corporations and groups; implement a one-stop mechanism, reduce old documents that are no longer suitable, replace new documents, separate the ownership function from the state management function, ensure that economic groups develop dynamically and creatively for the benefit of the nation; may allow the establishment of a specialized organization to represent the state ownership and management in state-owned economic groups; thereby limiting and controlling the situation of scattered and ineffective investment, causing waste and loss of State assets; at the same time, it is the basis for clearly defining the responsibility of the head in managing and operating the activities of State economic groups. The Party and the State always create favorable conditions for corporations and general companies to exploit their potential and advantages to serve the task of socio-economic development of the country; in particular, it is necessary to adjust, supplement and perfect documents related to the production and business activities of each corporation and state-owned general company, the role and responsibility of the head in leading, directing and operating the activities of the corporation and general company; if there are violations or failure to complete the set targets and tasks, they must be strictly responsible. The mechanisms and policies for production and business activities of corporations and state-owned general companies must be more flexible, creative, suitable and effective, respecting the objective laws of the market; promptly remove difficulties and legal problems, do not let institutional barriers affect the progress and quality of production and business.
Second, improve the operational efficiency of the State Capital Management Committee at state-owned corporations and groups .
The State Capital Management Committee has promoted its role and responsibility in the process of performing the tasks assigned by the Party and the State; seriously implemented Notice No. 40-TB/TW, dated September 14, 2017, "On the project to establish a specialized agency to represent the ownership of state-owned enterprises and state capital in enterprises"; actively and proactively grasped difficulties, obstacles, and bottlenecks in the production and business activities of state-owned corporations and groups, promptly resolved them within the scope, authority, responsibilities, and assigned tasks; closely coordinated with ministries, departments, branches, and localities to develop regulations on coordination of activities to ensure consistency, systematization, and smoothness; strengthened inspection and examination of the use of state budget capital in projects, especially projects that have been pending for a long time and have not been handled. Improve the work of advising and proposing to the Government contents related to the implementation of projects that are behind schedule and new issues that arise. The work of managing and allocating budgets to state-owned corporations and general companies should be appropriate, effective, ensuring objectivity, publicity and transparency; have plans to inspect the progress and quality of implementation of works and projects of parent companies and subsidiaries and have timely forms and measures to handle violations if violations are detected. Do a good job of managing key officials in state-owned corporations and general companies in accordance with the current regulations on decentralization and delegation of power of the Party and State. Regularly review, detect and propose competent authorities to amend, supplement and issue new documents to improve the quality of operations of the State Capital Management Committee in state-owned corporations and general companies.
Third, promote the role and responsibility of the heads of state-owned corporations and groups .
The head of a state-owned corporation or group must have a strong political stance, be absolutely loyal to the Party, the Fatherland and the people; have moral qualities, a clean, healthy and simple lifestyle; have management capacity, a spirit of innovation and creativity, dare to think, dare to speak, dare to do, dare to take responsibility, and act strongly and decisively. Build a culture of resignation for the head of a state-owned corporation or group when they fail to meet the requirements of their duties, and when the enterprise's production and business are weak and incur losses.
Fourth, strengthen inspection, examination and supervision by state management agencies and the State Capital Management Committee over state-owned corporations and groups.
State management agencies and the State Capital Management Committee shall strengthen inspection, examination and supervision of production and business activities of State corporations and general companies, especially those that have many weaknesses and violations in leadership and direction of implementation of projects, programs and plans of the Party and State. Develop a mechanism for inspection, examination and supervision of the activities of state management agencies and the State Capital Management Committee that is appropriate, effective, focused and key; enhance proactiveness and planning in inspection, examination and supervision, ensuring "early and remote" warning, deterrence and prevention of possible violations in State corporations and general companies. The inspection, examination and supervision process must be objective, impartial, public and transparent, pointing out violations and limitations in leadership, direction and operation of State corporations and general companies; Propose directions and measures to overcome the limitations and shortcomings that have been pointed out; handle violations in accordance with legal regulations, without any forbidden areas or exceptions; handle violations to the extent of the extent of the violation. Loss-making corporations and general companies must be resolutely equitized and dissolved, not allowed to drag on. Attach the responsibility of the head of the state-owned corporation and general company to the approval and organization of the implementation of the enterprise restructuring project, organize and supervise the effective implementation of the approved project. Strengthen the control of the power of the head of the state-owned corporation and general company, clearly define the responsibility of the Party Committee and the head of the Party organization in state-owned enterprises when violations, losses, and damages occur to the national economy.
Fifth, continuously improve the competitiveness of state economic groups in the socialist-oriented market economy.
In the context of current open-door, deep international integration, improving the competitiveness of state-owned economic groups is an important and necessary task, aiming to maintain and expand the domestic market, gradually approach and dominate markets in the region and the world, contributing to building the brand and image of the country and people in the international arena. To do so, state-owned economic groups need to restructure, comprehensively innovate, improve corporate governance capacity in a modern direction, approach international standards, focus on key areas, constantly improve production and business capacity, quality of key products, build and foster reputation and brand... /.
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(1) National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Law No. 59/2020/QH14, dated June 17, 2020 on the Law on Enterprises . (2), (3), (9) Documents of the 13th Party Congress, National Political Publishing House Truth, Hanoi, 2021, vol. I, pp. 135, 135, 132 (4) Minh Ngoc: “Exceeding 73% of pre-tax profit plan, 18/19 enterprises under the Capital Management Committee recovered and prospered”, https://baochinhphu.vn, December 15, 2022 (5) Minh Son: “Viettel achieved consolidated revenue of 163.8 trillion VND in 2022”, https://www.vietnamplus.vn, January 3, 2023 (6) Anh Son: “Vietnam Oil and Gas Group achieved revenue of 931.2 trillion VND in 2022”, https://daibieunhandan.vn, January 10, 2023 (7) Van Duan: “Many state-owned corporations and groups lost thousands of billions of VND”, https://nld.com.vn, October 14, 2022 (8) Nguyen Phu Trong: Opening speech at the 5th Central Conference XII Party Congress, https://www.hcmcpv.org.vn, May 5, 2017
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