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VNR500 Summit 2009: Seizing opportunities to improve competitiveness
It is now time for businesses to seize opportunities to improve competitiveness. Businesses should not be too passive, or they will lose opportunities. These were things heard at VNR500 Summit 2009, the annual VNR500 conference held in HCM City on July 17.
Economists and businesses said at the conference that the present opportunity comes only once every hundred years and businesses should take full advantage of the opportunity, which they could not get in normal non-crisis conditions, to restructure business and improve competitiveness.
Tom Herron, a Senior Executive of Ernst & Young Vietnam, said that the opportunity has come and that businesses need to be determined to restructure themselves. Opportunities will not wait for late businesses.
“Businesses need to determine where they stand in the market, and then take quick action,” he said.
However, expanding business scale does not mean that businesses should take on everything. Tom noted that Vietnamese businesses often want to do everything, while the things they need to do are to determine where they are and concentrate on their specialties. They should not jump into fields in which other businesses have clear advantages.
According to Ernst & Young’s survey of 350 of the world’s leading corporations which have suffered from crisis, competition has become fiercer in crisis. Therefore, the enterprises which cover many business fields will not be able to compete productively.
Businesses should not use crisis as crutch
Hoa Sen Group’s (HSG) turnover and profit in 2008 and the first half of 2009 were still higher than those of the pre-crisis period. Le Phuoc Vu, Chairman of HSG, said that there are three factors that has helped HCG to continue to operate effectively. First, in favourable conditions, the company still anticipates possible negative things that might come. Second, the company accepts output and turnover decreases, but does not leave money idle. Third, the company braves cutting expenses, but when business recovers, it compensates labourers.
According to economist Huynh Buu Son, one should not be too worried about the crisis, and people should not think that business will not bring profit in crisis. “The most important things for businesses are to provide high-quality products and services, and of course, they need to have reasonable solutions for the economic downturn period,” he said.
Son said that businesses should not blame the crisis for failure.
Confidence and role of the Government
VietNamNet Editor in Chief Nguyen Anh Tuan, in his speech at the conference, said: “The global economy has become brighter”. Meanwhile, in his address, Tai Hui also said that the worst of the crisis period is over. However, in order to recover the national economy, it is necessary to have confidence, and confidence may be the most important element, according to Hui.
If private businesses are still hesitant to make investment, economic recovery will go slowly.
Tom Herron also believes that confidence is the most important factor. However, confidence cannot be obtained automatically; it is created by the national economy’s conditions and the talent of the ‘conductor of an orchestra’ – the Government.
Tai Hui said that foreign investors still have some hesitancy about doing business in Vietnam. According to Tom, Vietnam is still an attractive investment destination, and whether Vietnam can continue to attract investment will depend on the Government’s releasing good policies which can help create confidence.
Dang Vy
vietnamnet
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