With more than one million active businesses, Vietnam’s publishing industry holds immense potential to foster a strong reading culture, representing a true golden opportunity.
On the occasion of Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day this year, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports, in collaboration with Saigon Business Magazine and the Business Book Council, organized a seminar titled Phat trien van hoa doc trong doanh nghiep (Developing a Reading Culture in Businesses). This is a rare instance where the focus on developing a reading culture shifts to businesses, after a long period centered on families and schools.
According to Chairman Nguyen Tuan Quynh of the Board of Directors of Phuong Nam Culture Company and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Saigon Book Culture Company, reading culture in businesses in Vietnam in general and in Ho Chi Minh City in particular is still not given enough attention. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that businesses do not see or measure the direct impact of reading on their operations.
In particular, many business owners don't read books, so they don't understand or appreciate the value of reading.
Tran Hoang, Editor-in-Chief of Saigon Business Magazine, believes that when talking about reading culture in businesses, ultimately, the goal is to improve management capacity and enhance competitiveness. “Simply put, individuals with a high reading culture will have higher professional knowledge, more reasonable behavior, and contribute better to the business. Therefore, if Ho Chi Minh City has good policies to encourage reading culture in businesses, the competitiveness of businesses in Ho Chi Minh City will certainly improve,” Mr. Tran Hoang said.
Business leaders urge a reading culture as a foundation for innovation
Evaluating the development of reading habits in businesses today, Ngo Vi Dong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of HPT Information Technology Joint Stock Company and Chairman of the Business Book Council, believes that in many businesses, reading remains a personal, spontaneous activity; it has not yet become part of a human resource development strategy.
“We talk a lot about digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and innovation. But without a solid knowledge base, no technology can be effective. Conversely, if a business has a strong learning foundation, any technology can become a lever for development. Reading culture is the first building block of that foundation,” said Ngo Vi Dong.
Many believe the key driver of a reading culture in businesses lies with leadership. CEO Le Nhat Truong Chinh of Success Partner, a company specializing in data-driven personnel assessment, said that when leaders are well-read, they are better positioned to select books suited to their employees and business needs, thereby encouraging a culture of reading. Over time, this can become an effective learning channel that, if sustained, may deliver greater impact than large-scale seminars.
