Trần Nguyên Trung - Chief Accountant - representative of SABECO received the award for "Outstanding taxpayers for the period 2020-22". — Photo courtesy of SABECO

Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Joint Stock Corporation (SABECO) was honoured for its efforts to overcome difficulties and make great contributions to the State budget during the 2020-22 period.

The General Department of Taxation under the Ministry of Finance last week organised a conference praising "Outstanding taxpayers for the period 2020-22" to honour 138 businesses with great contributions to the State budget revenue amid global economic challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks to ensuring the “dual goal” of maintaining production and business during the pandemic towards sustainable development, SABECO contributed VNĐ11 trillion (US$445.5 million) to the State budget in the reviewed period, one of the highest in the group of beverage manufacturers.

According to a representative of the General Department of Taxation, the criteria to consider and commend typical taxpayers include good compliance with tax laws; making significant contributions to the State budget and good implementation of digital transformation programmes.

At the conference, Minister of Finance Hồ Đức Phớc appreciated SABECO and other businesses for their positive contributions to the state budget during the period 2020–22, especially their realistic, effective, and timely support in preventing the spread of the pandemic, contributing to the socio-economic development.

During 2020–22, the world economic and political situation faced lots of challenges. In fact, global production and business activities were seriously affected by the outbreak and prolonged pandemic.

However, SABECO managed to achieve the after-tax profits of VNĐ5.5 trillion in 2022, posting a 40 per cent year-on-year increase. Gross profit margin continued to improve from 28.8 per cent to a record high of 30 per cent, despite rising input costs.

SABECO has striven to maintain production to promote economic development and stabilise jobs for workers during the most difficult times of the pandemic.

To achieve the goal of maintaining operations during difficult times of the pandemic, SABECO synchronously implemented many strict prevention plans and scenarios, ensuring a stable supply of goods in the market. The business continuity plan had been activated by SABECO throughout the system.

Thanks to proactively performing forecasting work from the beginning, the source of raw materials and fuels for production was therefore not disrupted, and co-ordination and continuous operation were closely monitored to flexibly change. Due to maintain continuous production activities, SABECO has supported customer partners and suppliers to stabilise their business. At the same time, SABECO also maintained support for partners in the same system through purchasing goods.

The impressive results reflected SABECO's persistent resilience and strong recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, the corporation is maintaining jobs for about 13,000 direct workers and thousands of indirect workers throughout the system.

With the motto of business development coupled with sustainability, during the pandemic, SABECO joined hands with the Vietnamese Government to support workers, employees, and small businesses affected by COVID-19, while at the same time providing medical equipment for front-line medical forces through campaigns such as 'Rise with Việt Nam', 'Community Care', and 'Collecting a Million Star' in 2020 and 2021.

In 2023, SABECO targeted the revenue of VNĐ40.3 trillion and after-tax profit of VNĐ5.7 trillion, increasing 15.1 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively, over the same period last year.

Committed to sustainable development

With a commitment to bring pride to Việt Nam, SABECO's sustainable development model focuses on four goals: Consumption - Conservation - Country - Culture. This 4C model was developed with four main elements: encouraging consumers to consume beer responsibly; business and production activities with the principles of conservation and environmental protection; contribute to the sustainable development of the country and promote traditional Vietnamese cultural values.

As one of the largest corporations in Việt Nam, SABECO is aware of its responsibility in the country's development process.

Currently, SABECO owns 26 factories with a capacity of about 2.2 billion litres a year, a network of hundreds of thousands of sales points spread across the country and exports to 30 countries around the world. The corporation has a portfolio of beer brands that are favoured by Vietnamese consumers such as Lạc Việt Bia, Saigon Chill Bia, 333 Bia, Saigon Special Bia, Saigon Export Bia, Saigon Lager Bia, Saigon Gold Bia. — VNS