State-run oil firm is biggest of Vietnam’s top 500 firms

Truong Hai Auto Corporation is named the country’s largest private enterprise.
The Top 500 Largest Enterprises list from the Revenue Ranking Board follows the Fortune 500 model. It was released on Wednesday by the Vietnam Report Company (VNR) and online news site VietnamNet.
The 10th year of the VNR500 list has honoured firms with outstanding achievements in 2016.
On the list, PetroVietnam is followed by Samsung Vietnam, Viettel Group and the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). On the 500 largest private firms list, Truong Hai Auto Corporation is followed by Vietnam Dairy Products Co (Vinamilk), Doji Gold, FPT Corporation and Vingroup.
VNR’s survey shows that the top 500 firms were optimistic about production and business in the first 10 months of the year. However, 16 per cent of the surveyed firms reported decreasing turnover, while 15 per cent expected reduced after-tax profit in the 10-month period compared to the same period last year. Local companies have been facing many hurdles because of fluctuations and changes in the world economy and politics.
The report said the number of labourers employed by businesses was stable. In the first quarter of 2017, 60 per cent of the businesses are expected to maintain their labourers. It is also forecast that in the next quarter, business will remain stable or improve, in terms of turnover, profit and overall production, compared to the last quarter of this year.
Around 80 per cent of the enterprises will scale up their business, and 19 per cent plan to expand, while only 5 per cent will maintain their current situation. The current trend of integration and cooperation will gather more steam, the report said. So many investors from Thailand, Japan and South Korea will likely enter the Vietnamese market through merger and acquisition (M&A) or through joint venture projects. Around 25 per cent of the surveyed firms said M&A and joint venture negotiations have been underway for the past three years, while 10 per cent of the companies said they are looking for business cooperation.
In response to their strengths and weaknesses in the international market, 60 per cent of the companies said their strengths were management skills and stable supplies. However, only 25 per cent of the enterprises said their products and services were a strength, and 12 per cent said their marketing activities were still a weakness.
The VNR suggest that large local firms should promote their brand names and improve productivity if they want to step into the global market.
Most large corporations have decided to increase their investments in Vietnam over the next two years, and 30 per cent of the firms plan to increase their investment in current business activities by more than 50 per cent.
In 2017, the economy shows positive prospects as big world economies have been gradually getting over their economic crises. Vietnam’s restructuring plan in the 2016-20 period is expected to create breakthroughs and allow companies to grow and expand their businesses.
An awards ceremony will be held in Hanoi on January 19 to honour the 500 companies on the list.