While they remain focused on fattening their bottom lines, most leading businesses in the country also see exercising their social responsibility as a contributive factor.

This is a key finding in the report that lists the top 500 firms in the country.

In its latest BP500 (Business Prosperity) listing, the Vietnam Report JSC points out that the top 500 firms are most responsive on five key social issues: business transparency (89.5 per cent showing interest); local community aid (84.2 per cent); decreasing unemployment (63.2 per cent); environmental protection (57.9 per cent); and career orientation for youth (42.1 per cent).

A large number of businesses agree that the act of giving back to society would help highlight their products and brand images and help profit accumulation. This is the main drive behind their CSR strategies, as also the protection of workers’ benefits and compliance with legal procedures.

At present, the main CSR strategies employed by the leading businesses include charity, environment protection programmes, social responsibility investment and training for ethnic minority employees.

The majority of the top 500 firms also agree that profitable growth is the major factor in making business decisions.

According to 85.7 per cent of businesses on the list, increasing profit is their key objective for the next 2 years, followed by product and service quality improvement (76.2 per cent), human resource development (52.4 per cent) and business model development (42.9 per cent).

The report said the listing represented Vietnamese entrepreneurial environment, outstanding business records, growth opportunities and social contributions.

The companies were ranked based on multiple factors including infrastructure growth, social influence, total asset value, profitability, returns on investment, workforce quality, average wages and CSR activities.

The BP500’s top ten are: the Vietnam Military Telecommunications Group (Viettel); Samsung Electronics Vietnam Co. Ltd; the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam); the Honda Vietnam Company; Truong Hai Auto Corporation; the Vietnam Diary Products JSC.; Mobifone Corporation; Hoa Phat Group; FPT Corporation and Nutifood Nutrition Food JSC.

The average annual income for these ten companies was VND114 trillion (US$5.1 billion), with post tax income averaging VND13.86 trillion ($622.5 million); and they had an average workforce of 17,819 workers.

Viettel was ranked third in Vietnam Report’s 2016 BP500 list, whereas PetroVietnam dropped two ranks and Samsung Electronics remained in second place.

The BP500 is an independent listing done by Vietnam Report based on “scientific and objective principles” and on the businesses’ own data.

Vietnam Report’s first BP500 list was announced in 2007, ranking all Vietnamese businesses irrespective of ownership. — VNS