Vietnamese firms behind in transparency

Country's companies seemingly reluctant to provide fully transparent information, report reveals.

None of Vietnam’s Top 30 companies disclosed sufficient transparent information in 2016, according to a report released on April 26 by Towards Transparency, the official Vietnam contact of the Berlin-based Transparency International.

The report said that as at November 30, 2016, four of the Top 30 did not have working websites, while none displayed transparent information on anti-corruption, company structure, and ownership, along with country-by-country reports for multinational corporations.

Only nine partially detailed their anti-corruption commitments on their websites, while just 18 State-owned and public limited companies outlined their structure and ownership.

None of the companies in the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector revealed their corporate structures, including the Vietnamese subsidiaries of Unilever, Microsoft Mobile, and Canon.

Since September 2015, State-owned and public companies in Vietnam have been governed by a decree on publishing transparent information, but FDI companies are not.

In March, the Vietnam Provincial Competitiveness Index 2016 showed that around 66 per cent of Vietnamese businesses said they had to offer bribes or make informal payments to public officials, of which 25 per cent of FDI businesses had to pay bribes to gain an official investment license.

“Websites are the easiest way to access a company’s information, and that information should be available for small shareholders, potential investors, and the media,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Kieu Vien, founder and Executive Director of Towards Transparency.

Shifting corruption surveillance from State-owned enterprises (SOEs) to the private and FDI sectors could provide an easy way out for the anti-corruption agency, which is already having a difficult time targeting SOEs, according to Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Head of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)’s Legal Department.

The report also found that 14 multinational companies on the list had failed to provide country-by-country reports, Transparency International’s term for the disclosure of payments and operations of multinational companies.

The team found no information online about revenue, costs, net income, or public contributions outside of Vietnam for several local firms with investments in Cambodia or Myanmar.

“Vietnamese businesses fear that disclosing financial statements could reveal their business secrets,” Mr. Tuan said. “However, this is a matter of the country’s image, so these companies should disclose details about their foreign investments.”

Ms. Nguyen Phuong Chau, a PR representative at FPT, said that no company would publish this information if it wasn’t for the law, their desire for international trade, and their vision to bring the company closer to full transparency.

Anti-corruption schemes are still foreign to many Vietnamese businesses, and all of the Top 30 provide little or no anti-corruption guidelines or disclaimers on their websites. FDI companies were closest to meeting established global standards, with 24.2 per cent doing so.

While experts are concerned about the big players, they also pointed out that small and medium-sized enterprises account for more than 90 per cent of the country’s businesses and corruption is often a way of life due to a lack of financial power and resources.

by Anh Duy / VET