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Entrepreneurial spirit key to success: Business experts
The go-getter spirit and “people skills,” such as networking and the ability to cooperate, are the keys to business success, said participants at an international conference in Ho Chi Minh City Friday.
Addressing the 19th Asian Corporate Conference, Henry B. Nguyen, managing general partner of IDG Ventures Vietnam, said a solid definition of the “entrepreneurial spirit” was not prevalent in Vietnam. He said it was this lack of clarity that led many small- and medium-sized enterprises to collapse in their early years.
He said Vietnamese were not as good at networking and cooperating as their overseas counterparts.
“This must change as cooperation and networking help us create synergy, especially in the economic crisis,” he said.
“In the end, people drive business.”
Government support is also essential, he added.
Just do it
Ly Qui Trung, founder and CEO of Pho 24 Corporation said, “I had the idea for Pho 24 on a flight from Vietnam to Australia several years ago. I was sitting next to an
Australian man who said Vietnam always reminded him of the pho and vice versa.
“My wife asked if I have a mental problem when I first mentioned pho business to her,” he said.
But now Pho 24 now has an extensive network of about 70 outlets across Vietnam, Southeast Asia with future plans for the European and US markets.
“If you really want to start a business, write out and outline your idea on paper and ask for advice from experts,” he said.
Cutting red tape
Hoang Van Dung, standing vice chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said his organization had been working hard to remove all obstacles to entrepreneurship in Vietnam.
Dung said, “About 96 percent of Vietnamese firms are small- and medium enterprises and they typically face capital shortages and problems with red-tape.”
At last month’s meeting held in Ho Chi Minh City to review Vietnam’s two-year WTO membership, former Minister of Trade Truong Dinh Tuyen said the country had reformed bureaucracy but that slow administrative procedures still added extra costs to the opening of any business here.
The legal system is also inefficient, he said, and a confusing legal framework creates liabilities for people and business.
Dung said VCCI had worked with the US government to launch the Vietnamese provincial competitive index program to rank local authorities’ support for business communities.
“The program aims to bring about better business legislation,” he said.
Vinh Bao
thanhnien
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