200 private business leaders seek ways to survive COVID-19

Hanoi (VNA) - An online forum entitled "From survival to prosperity: Stay firm to overcome crisis" was held on August 20 to discuss measures to combat the "COVID-19 storm”.

Truong Gia Binh, President of FPT Board of Directors, attends the forum. (Photo: FPT)

The event drew the participation of nearly 200 leaders from leading private enterprises in the country. They debated key issues and put forth top priority solutions based on their own practical experiences in preventing and combating the "COVID-19 storm” in recent time.

At the event, Truong Gia Binh, President of FPT Board of Directors, stressed that in face of a big crisis like COVID-19, Vietnamese enterprises, especially private ones, need to be more decisive and stronger. “That fight is not only for their own businesses and families, but also for the mission of protecting the pillars of the national economy,” he noted.

"The forum is an opportunity for businesses to get together to share real stories and discuss how to form alliances in the community of top Vietnamese businesses to overcome difficulties together," said Binh.

Also at the forum, businesses that are taking actions to promptly respond to COVID-19 such as VPBank, PNJ, Minh Phu Group, AA Corporation, Thien Long Group, FPT and Deloitte shared their real stories and solutions to survive the crisis by promote innovation, transforming business and working models, optimising human resources, and applying digital transformation.

A quick survey at the event showed that 85 percent of business leaders forecast that the impact of COVID-19 will last until the end of 2021 and even longer. However, over 50 percent of the leaders said that "there are still opportunities amid difficulties".

Enterprises need to deal with difficulties and be prepared to seize opportunities, with digital transformation and technology application as an inevitable way.

At the moment, the five most critical issues facing businesses are innovation and organisational transformation, revenue growth, protecting employees, maintaining working capital and reducing supply chain interruptions.

To solve these problems, with their own practical experiences, leaders of leading enterprises in Vietnam have agreed to give urgent priority solutions, including promoting the role and spirit of leaders, boosting creativity and innovation by technology, and focusing on developing human resources.

At the forum, Hoang Viet Anh, FPT Deputy General Director in charge digital transformation, came up with corresponding solutions by applying technology.

According to Viet Anh, for the problem of revenue growth, the restructuring of business processes and investment in infrastructure to boost online sales are proving effective.

In fact, at FPT Retail, online revenue during the COVID-19 period grew rapidly. Or FPT's customer, a gas company in Japan, saw a 10 percent increase in its revenue. At the same time, the application of online platforms will also help businesses maintain connection with their employees, he said.

To ensure capital sources and creativity in operation, Viet Anh said that applying automation technology solutions will help businesses save costs, increase efficiency, and improve customer experience. Many FPT customers such as FPT SPro, FPT.AI and akaBot have applied automation solutions, saving up to 60 percent of costs and increasing 80 percent of productivity.

For the problem of supply chain disruption, the application of the Online Fair platform will help connect domestic and foreign businesses easily. The Handicraft and Wood Industry Association of Ho Chi Minh City has put this platform into use with 50 active showrooms and the figure is expected to increase to 100 by the end of the year.

The forum participants shared the same view that overcoming the crisis will no longer be a difficult problem when the business community gets linked and united for mutual development.

Each surviving business and each thriving firm will create a great driving force for the national economy to recover and develop in the future./.