The event was held by the Vietnam Association for Business Culture Development (VNABC) and the HCM City Association for Women Executives and Entrepreneurs with Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh and local senior officials in attendance.
The code of corporate conduct and ethics includes six standards regarding leadership culture, corporate culture building and enforcement, law compliance, business ethics, social responsibility and healthy competition.
In his remarks at the forum, Deputy PM Binh said corporate culture gives a brand a soul so it must be seen as key for sustainable development for each enterprise, and in a broader view, the entire economy during global integration.
Binh lauded the forum, saying it is an important event to promote the government’s campaign to improve Vietnamese corporate culture.
The business community in Vietnam has made efforts to develop their cultures to include law obedience, social responsibility and healthy competition.
But business ethics have been largely neglected, causing many problems, he stated. Many enterprises aim to maximize profits regardless of the law, producing and distributing counterfeits and low-quality goods, as well as violating food safety standards, he added.
The Deputy PM urged firms to be consistent in developing their corporate culture and vowed that the government will work with them by improving regulations, the business climate and accelerating public administrative reforms.
Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said the city has faced several challenges in developing corporate culture. He cited the fact that more than 98 percent of the 323,000 businesses operating in the city are of micro-, small- and medium-size. Their operation is often unsustainable and they lack a corporate culture.
Many shipments of foods have been returned by importers due to failure to meet food safety standards, causing economic losses and harming consumer confidence and the image of the brand and the city, Phong added.
Through the forum, he said he would like to learn more about the businesses’ difficulties in building corporate culture, so practical solutions can be designed to aid them.
