UNICEF Vietnam recently brought together business leaders, investors, foundations, and philanthropists in Ho Chi Minh City for its Business Leadership Dialogue focusing on a fundamental recognition that Vietnam’s long-term prosperity will ultimately depend on the children who become tomorrow’s workforce, consumers, entrepreneurs, and leaders.

UNICEF’s representative in Vietnam Silvia Danailov connected economic development directly to the investment into children.

“While AI, infrastructures and investment will shape your businesses, what is really the most important is how we invest in people, how we invest in children growing up. They will become the workforce, innovators, entrepreneurs and leaders who define Vietnam’s next chapter. So it is about investing in Vietnam’s future through its children,” she said.

Silvia Danailov, UNICEF’s representative in Vietnam, shared remarks on the future of children in Vietnam. Photo: UNICEF Vietnam

The case has become more urgent as Vietnam enters a defining decade of demographic ageing, climate change and rapid digitalisation.

A smaller future workforce will need to be more productive, communities will require greater resilience to climate risks, and technological change will demand new skills.

The ability of children to grow up healthy, educated, protected and digitally capable will influence not only their individual prospects but also the strength of the economy they will manage.

This gives businesses a stake in children’s wellbeing that extends beyond philanthropy. Children are connected to the future availability of skilled employees, the resilience of communities and supply chains, and the long-term health of consumer markets.

The question for corporate leaders is how to turn that stake into action that is beneficial to both society and the business.

Turning purpose into a force for sustainable impact

The case studies shared at the dialogue suggested that credible action begins where a social need intersects with a company’s existing capabilities.

For Kimberly-Clark – a global consumer goods company best known for trusted personal care and hygiene brands, maternal health, newborn care and menstrual health are closely connected to the consumers served by brands such as Huggies and Kotex.

The company contributes knowledge of babies, mothers and women, while UNICEF provides technical expertise, public trust, government relationships and the ability to reach underserved communities at scale.

Nitish Gupta, managing director for Southeast Asia and general manager for Vietnam at Kimberly-Clark, argued that the value of the partnership rests on this combination rather than on funding alone.

“Coming together is about more than funding. It is the combination of shared purpose and complementary strengths that can create long-term impact for society,” he said.

According to Gupta, Kimberly-Clark’s investment of more than $2 million aims to provide direct health benefits to 1.3 million babies, children and mothers, while reaching another 2.5 million people through education and behaviour-change activities.

Sustaining that ambition requires companies to look beyond quarterly targets or a single annual programme and build partnerships that can develop knowledge, measure results and expand over several years.

Panellists spoke about business as a force for sustainable impact. Photo: UNICEF Vietnam

Biti’s offers a different route to the same destination. Children have been central to the Vietnamese footwear company’s customer base for generations, making the provision of affordable, quality school shoes one way its social purpose is expressed through everyday business.

Le Quyen Vuu, Biti’s CEO, explained that the company subsequently expanded this commitment into mental wellbeing.

Biti’s introduced its Happy Business programme for employees before working with a non-governmental organisation for approximately eight years to support Happy School initiatives at 16 schools in Hue and Hanoi.

“It’s very important to invest in the wellbeing of our children because Vietnam can only have sustainable success when we have new, healthy, happy and flourishing human capital,” she said.

From business leadership to family philanthropy

The move towards business-integrated purpose is also changing philanthropy. Ann Putnam Marks, UNICEF’s regional partnerships lead for Asia-Pacific, described a shift from one-off giving towards longer-term partnerships that combine private capital with expertise, networks and operating capacity.

Special guests Techajareonvikul family’s partnership with UNICEF Thailand demonstrates how family capital, corporate reach and UNICEF expertise can reinforce one another.

Through BJC Big C Foundation, the family has applied UNICEF’s knowledge of early childhood development across a major retail business.

Family-friendly workplace policies, office nurseries, breastfeeding spaces and children’s corners bring the partnership into the daily experience of employees and customers, while the Healthy Checkout Lanes initiative extends it to decisions about what shoppers see and buy.

The Techajareonvikul Family were special guests at the dialogue. Photo: UNICEF Vietnam

The Techajareonvikul Family’s special guests Thapanee and Aswin Techajareonvikul have extended the BJC Big C Foundation – UNICEF partnership into their family by involving their three children, in visits to UNICEF’s global supply, research and headquarters operations. Those experiences connect the values guiding today’s business leaders with the responsibilities that the next generation may inherit.

“Right now, our employees already have the knowledge of what we have learned and what we have appreciated from UNICEF’s guidance. They also know the importance of keeping family members and the family of the community in mind, and they also feel proud,” said Thapanee.

“I believe that this healthy environment is the heart and the core of being successful in business, and of being a part of society. And so, it’s really the legacy that we would leave to live on for generations to come, and also for our kids to continue, just like what we have learned from our parents: to give back to society.”

Examples shared in Ho Chi Minh City point to the same conclusion: purpose becomes credible when it changes a business decision. What companies sell, how they support employees, where investors place capital and what business families teach the next generation will help determine whether Vietnam’s present growth develops the human capability required to sustain it.

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Why child online safety is now a business imperative As Vietnam marks the Month of Action for Children under the theme “Happy, Safe and Confident Children in the Digital World,” Silvia Danailov, UNICEF Representative in Vietnam, shares her views on why child online safety is no longer just a social issue, but a core business responsibility in the digital age.

Under its 2026-2030 capital restructuring plan, State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) is expected to fully divest its holdings in firms across a wide range of sectors, from industrial manufacturing, steel, textiles and energy to construction, logistics, trade and seafood.

Among the notable names are Tien Phong Plastic JSC, Domesco Medical Import Export Corporation, Vietnam Steel Corporation (VNSTEEL), and Vietnam National Seaproducts Corporation (Seaprodex), to name but a few.

The legal framework for SCIC’s capital restructuring plan is provided by prime ministerial Decision No.40/2026/QD-TTg, issued on August 5, and government’s Decree No.57/2026/ND-CP, issued on February 12, establishing a clearer legal framework for the restructuring of state capital during 2026-2030.

Photo: Dung Minh

Under the new regulations, state-owned enterprises are divided into three main groups. The first comprises enterprises in which the state retains 100 per cent ownership, including those in railways, air traffic management, postal services, banknote printing, lotteries and Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.

The second consists of businesses in which the state holds at least 65 per cent of the capital, covering airports, seaports and large-scale mineral extraction units.

The remaining group comprises enterprises in which the state holds from 50 per cent to less than 65 per cent, including key petroleum importers with a market share of at least 30 per cent, such as Petrolimex, and telecommunications infrastructure service providers.

According to experts, once ownership limits for each sector are clearly defined, investors will have a better basis for identifying enterprises where state capital could be increased and those where there is room for the state to reduce its ownership.

Of the 66 enterprises on the list for full divestment over the next five years, many own valuable land banks, having established brands, strong market positions or high state ownership ratios.

A notable example is VNSTEEL, where SCIC is currently the controlling shareholder with a 93.93 per cent stake, equivalent to more than 636.8 million shares. With a market share of around 11.6 per cent in the construction steel segment, it is expected to benefit directly from strong growth in public investment in the coming years.

In terms of business performance, VNSTEEL posted impressive results in the first six months of the year, with revenue reaching $989.9 million and pre-tax profit nearly $28.7 million, up 13.2 per cent and 72.4 per cent, respectively, from the same period in 2025.

Notably, this growth follows a recovery that began in 2025, when the company recorded pre-tax profit of $26.4 million, up 69.6 per cent on-year.

Another company of interest in SCIC’s portfolio is Seaprodex. As of the end of 2025, SCIC held approximately 63.38 per cent of the company. Seaprodex’s appeal to the market extends beyond its seafood export business to its valuable land bank.

At Tien Phong Plastic, SCIC is currently the largest shareholder, holding a 37.1 per cent stake, and the company is on the list of enterprises slated for full divestment. It is one of the major players in the plastic pipe industry, with approximately 60 per cent of the northern market and 30 per cent of the nationwide market.

According to its business performance reports for 2022-2025, Tien Phong Plastic’s pre-tax profit has grown by more than 10 per cent annually. In the first six months of 2026, the company posted pre-tax profit approximating $35.2 million, up 38.4 per cent on-year.

Domesco Medical Import Export Joint Stock Corporation – a company operating four factories meeting GMP-WHO standards, including three pharmaceutical chemical plants and one plant producing herbal medicines and health supplements – will also be divested by SCIC.

SCIC had previously launched its divestment plan three times through auctions of more than 12.1 million shares, equivalent to 34.71 per cent of Domesco’s charter capital, but the process has yet to be completed. At the most recent offering in 2025, the total starting price for the share lot was set at more than $61.2 million.

SCIC will continue to invest in and retain stakes in 21 entities operating in its strategic areas of strength, including manufacturing, infrastructure, technology and healthcare.

Notable names in this portfolio include Vietnam Dairy Products JSC, Saigon Beer – Alcohol – Beverage Corporation, FPT Corporation, Hau Giang Pharmaceutical JSC, Traphaco JSC, Bao Minh Insurance Corporation, Vietnam National Reinsurance Corporation and Song Da Corporation.

According to a report by BIDV Securities Company (BSC), the equitisation and divestment of state-owned enterprises, along with IPO activities in the stock market, are showing signs of picking up again after a prolonged subdued period.

Alongside the requirement to restructure the state-owned enterprise sector, the need to mobilise resources for economic development and policy changes, BSC expects the market could be entering a new wave of IPOs, equitisation and divestment through share auctions.

SCIC to hold 31.08 per cent of charter capital of Vietnam Airlines State Capital Investment Corporation bought Vietnam Airlines (HSX: HVN) shares to hold at least 31.08 per cent of the charter capital to help the company overcome its difficulties amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

SCIC plans to sell stakes in over 30 enterprises State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) will offload capital in 31 enterprises, including FPT Corporation, Tien Phong Plastic, and other companies on the stock exchange.

SACE and SCIC sign MoU to strengthen cooperation between Italy and Vietnam Italian insurance and finance group SACE announced on October 24 that it had signed an MoU with the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC).

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The Department of Taxation held a working session with a delegation of International Monetary Fund (IMF) experts on August 17 to exchange experience, assess the current state of tax administration and explore ways to reform the tax administration model for large enterprises, with a focus on strengthening compliance risk management and aligning with international practices.

Le Long, deputy director general of the Department of Taxation. Photo: Phuong Thao

Speaking at the meeting, deputy director general of the Department of Taxation Le Long said the IMF’s recommendations on assessing tax administration performance, managing compliance risks and modernising taxpayer administration were valuable both technically and practically for Vietnam’s tax authorities.

The Department of Taxation is studying and incorporating a number of these recommendations into ongoing efforts to improve the legal framework, restructure its organisational system, reform business processes and modernise tax administration methods, he said.

Vietnam’s tax sector is entering a period of far-reaching reform, with significant changes to the legal and administrative framework. The Law on Tax Administration, No.108/2025/QH15, and its implementing regulations took effect on July 1, 2026, providing a new legal framework for tax administration.

“Alongside the transition to a new organisational structure, the tax sector is accelerating digital transformation, making greater use of electronic invoice data and interconnected databases, strengthening risk analysis and compliance management, and expanding digital tax services,” he said.

“These changes create opportunities to improve the efficiency of tax administration while placing greater demands on governance capacity, data quality, business processes, technology and the skills of tax officials,” he added.

Regarding tax administration for large enterprises, Long said its Large Enterprise Tax Branch currently directly manages 393 enterprises, including major corporations, state-owned groups, large foreign-invested companies and businesses operating in specialised sectors. Tax revenue from this group accounts for approximately 25 per cent of total domestic tax revenue.

Large taxpayers typically have significant scale and broad operations, complex ownership and organisational structures, and extensive related-party and cross-border transactions. They also engage in specialised financial activities and new forms of business arising from the digital economy.

“Compliance risks for these enterprises extend beyond registration, tax filing and payment. They increasingly involve the determination of tax liabilities, related-party transactions and transfer pricing, the allocation of costs and capital, the valuation and use of intangible assets, income from specialised business activities, the application of tax treaties and the treatment of emerging business models,” Long said.

As a result, tax administration for large enterprises cannot rely solely on individual inspections or risk mitigation after problems have emerged. Tax authorities need to identify risks at an earlier stage, allocate resources strategically, tailor management measures to taxpayers’ levels of compliance and provide stronger support to help businesses meet their tax obligations, he added.

The Department of Taxation outlined five key expectations for the cooperation programme. These include an independent and objective assessment of the functions, responsibilities, organisational structure, staffing and core business processes of the Large Enterprise Tax Branch; an assessment of its current maturity in applying compliance risk management and the gaps compared with international practices; recommendations on tools that can be implemented immediately; a feasible future operating model with performance indicators; and an action plan for reform that can serve as the basis for translating the recommendations into specific tasks.

Patrick De Mets, an IMF expert. Photo: Phuong Thao

Speaking at the session, Patrick De Mets, an IMF expert, welcomed the Department of Taxation’s proactive approach to reforming tax administration, particularly its shift from traditional administration towards a model based on taxpayers’ risks and levels of compliance.

As business activities become increasingly complex, developing a specialised administration model for large enterprises is essential, Mets said. Such a model would enable tax authorities to focus resources on high-risk sectors, businesses and transactions while improving support for taxpayers with strong compliance records.

“Managing large enterprises requires a different approach. Tax authorities need to understand taxpayers’ business activities, identify risks at an early stage and develop appropriate strategies to improve compliance across different taxpayer groups. International practices should be adapted to Vietnam’s circumstances, with feasibility and administrative effectiveness as key priorities,” Mets said.

The working programme between the Department of Taxation and the IMF delegation provided a stronger practical basis for further reforming the administration of large enterprises, improving compliance risk management, making more effective use of resources and gradually aligning Vietnam’s tax administration with international best practices.

The cooperation is also expected to support the tax sector’s broader efforts to modernise its administration system in line with the requirements of the new reform phase.

Finance ministers cement fiscal cooperation Vietnam and the Czech Republic are deepening fiscal ties and strategic cooperation for sustainable development.

Overhaul of tax sector boosts operational effectiveness The tax sector has embarked on a major restructuring and efficiency drive to strengthen service delivery for citizens and businesses.

Tax sector pushes digital transformation in administration overhaul The tax sector is restructuring administrative processes to build a modern, transparent system, leveraging digital technology and data to improve compliance, efficiency, and risk management.

Photo: baodautu.vn

According to Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), Vietnam’s seafood exports totalled nearly $6.86 billion in the first seven months of 2026, an increase of 11.5 per cent on-year. In July, seafood exports reached $1.1 billion, up 4.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2025.

China and Hong Kong remained Vietnam’s largest seafood market in July, importing more than $267 million, up 24.7 per cent on-year. During the first seven months, exports reached nearly $1.74 billion, an increase of 34.5 per cent.

Exports to the United States exceeded $159 million in July, up 6.3 per cent, while cumulative exports reached more than $1.05 billion, increasing just 0.3 per cent.

Exports to Japan totalled more than $144 million in July, rising 3.8 per cent, while cumulative exports increased 2.6 per cent. Exports to CPTPP markets reached more than $1.783 billion during the first seven months, up 8.1 per cent, making the bloc one of Vietnam’s most stable export destinations.

In contrast, exports to the EU declined 10.9 per cent in July and 2.7 per cent over the first seven months. South Korea fell 10.8 per cent in July, ASEAN declined 6 per cent, and the Middle East dropped 16 per cent.

VASEP noted that the scenario of seafood exports exceeding $12 billion in 2026 remains achievable following the $6.86 billion recorded during the first seven months. However, export growth in the remaining months of the year is expected to slow considerably from the current 11.5 per cent pace. The most immediate challenge comes from the US Section 301 tariff. The 12.5 per cent tariff imposed on Vietnam creates three concrete consequences.

First, new contracts with US buyers are likely to be renegotiated. Importers may request lower free on board prices, tariff-sharing arrangements, or shorter-term agreements.

Second, Vietnam is placed at a competitive disadvantage compared with Ecuador, India, and Indonesia, which face a 10 per cent tariff. This difference is particularly important for whiteleg shrimp, canned tuna, and standard frozen seafood products.

Third, the new tariff is applied on top of MFN duties, anti-dumping duties, and countervailing duties where applicable. Consequently, purchasing decisions will increasingly be made based on individual exporters and specific product lines rather than simple country-to-country comparisons.

“On the positive side, Vietnam has introduced regulations prohibiting the import of goods produced with forced labour, effective from early September 2026. This provides a basis for continued dialogue with the US. However, in the short term, there has been no official indication that the 12.5 per cent Section 301 tariff will be revised in the near future,” VASEP added.

Vietnam’s seafood exports approach $5.8 billion in first half of 2026 Vietnam’s seafood exports reached nearly $5.8 billion in the first half of 2026, up 12.8 per cent on-year, driven by stronger demand, market diversification, and improved product restructuring.

China imports $1.4 billion of Vietnamese seafood in first half of 2026 Stronger demand from China – Vietnam’s largest shrimp export destination – is creating fresh momentum for the industry’s growth amid continuing uncertainty in the US market.

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