Unveiling PRIVATE 100: The Ultimate Guide to Vietnam’s Top Private Sector Contributors

In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, encompassing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all by 2030.

In Vietnam, since 2017, the Prime Minister has issued the National Action Plan to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, setting out 17 sustainable development goals with 115 specific targets. Despite the challenges, Vietnamese businesses and financial institutions have been formulating and implementing their sustainable development strategies according to international standards, reflecting their commitment to supporting the country’s strategic goals. Sustainability is evident in the health of their production and business operations, service provision, job creation, and tax compliance.

As the state promotes state budget revenue, encourages competition, and fosters sustainable development, an important indicator to assess the contribution of organizations to the country’s overall economic development is their budget contribution.

To recognize the crucial role of the private sector in the economy and to honor and spread this spirit of social service, CafeF has created PRIVATE 100 – a list of private enterprises with the largest budget contributions in Vietnam. This list, first published in early August 2024, is based on actual contribution data for the 2023 fiscal year.

Additionally, sub-lists under PRIVATE 100 for specific sectors such as securities, banking, and consumer goods will also be announced.

While there have been numerous business recognition lists, none have focused on the total budget contributions of enterprises. This is a significant factor in assessing a company’s contribution to society. Currently, there is only one ranking based on corporate income tax criteria. In reality, enterprises pay various taxes and fees to the annual state budget. Enterprises that make significant budget contributions are often recognized but mostly at the provincial level.

Moreover, tax authority data typically reflects the taxes payable by each legal entity according to their tax code, without consolidating the payments made by the entire group, including the parent company and its subsidiaries. Today, most large enterprises operate as groups with tens or even hundreds of member companies.

Given this reality, CafeF aims to create a list of the country’s largest budget-contributing enterprises, starting with PRIVATE 100 – TOP PRIVATE ENTERPRISES WITH THE LARGEST BUDGET CONTRIBUTIONS IN VIETNAM.

Private enterprises with budget contributions of 100 billion VND or more in the latest fiscal year are included in the general list of PRIVATE 100.

The top 100 enterprises of PRIVATE 100 (PRIVATE 100 – Leading Group) will rank the 100 enterprises with the largest budget contribution figures. For conglomerates with qualifying parent companies and subsidiaries, only the consolidated figures of the parent company will be considered for ranking. According to current data, the top 100 enterprises of PRIVATE 100 contributed nearly 177,000 billion VND to the state budget in 2023. Over 30 of these enterprises contributed at the thousand-billion level.

Unsurprisingly, the current top spots in PRIVATE 100 are held by enterprises owned and operated by billionaires, as ranked by Forbes. 2023 marked a significant increase in budget contributions from both Techcombank and Masan Group, led by billionaires Ho Hung Anh and Nguyen Dang Quang, respectively.

Techcombank is the largest budget-contributing private bank, while Masan Group’s subsidiaries are also top contributors in their respective industries and localities: Masan Consumer is one of the two largest budget-contributing private enterprises in the consumer goods industry, and Masan High-tech Materials is the largest domestic budget contributor in Thai Nguyen province.

Banks are among the most important organizations, managing capital flows to ensure the smooth operation of economic components, promoting growth, and increasing budget revenues from economic activities. Private banks in the PRIVATE 100 list contributed a total of 42,000 billion VND to the state budget in 2023, with 12 banks contributing over 1,000 billion VND. The top 10 private banks contributed more than 36,800 billion VND, an increase of over 10,700 billion VND compared to 2022. Several banks doubled their budget contributions from the previous year, equivalent to thousands of billions.

With their financial resources, banks are at the forefront of investing in long-term visions such as digital transformation and sustainable development. Through these investments, they educate the market and drive the development of other sectors.

HDBank, consistently ranked among the top tax-paying enterprises, has maintained a high and steady growth chain for 12 consecutive years, increasing its contribution to the state budget. The bank is committed to pursuing international standards such as ESG (Environment – Social – Governance) and translating them into concrete actions to promote green finance and sustainable finance.

Meanwhile, another top-contributing bank, TPBank, stands out for its leadership in implementing a sustainable development strategy aligned with ESG standards, focusing on digitalization and greening its operations. The bank directs credit flows to green projects, community-oriented products, and businesses owned by women, contributing to enhancing the competitiveness of the economy.

In the real estate sector, private real estate enterprises were the second-largest budget contributors, with over 37,000 billion VND. Seven enterprises contributed more than 1,000 billion VND. If we include the figures of large conglomerates with significant real estate operations, such as Vingroup, THACO, and Gelex, this amount could exceed 70,000 billion VND.

In 2023, according to PRIVATE 100, the steel industry had only six enterprises but contributed over 13,000 billion VND to the budget, with four enterprises contributing more than 1,000 billion VND. The Hoa Phat Group contributed over 9,000 billion VND. While the Group operates in five fields: Steel (construction steel, hot-rolled steel), Steel Products (steel pipes, coated steel, steel wire, prestressed steel), Agriculture, Real Estate, and Home Appliances, steel production remains its core business, accounting for 90% of the Group’s revenue and profit. With a capacity of 8.5 million tons of crude steel per year, Hoa Phat is the largest steel producer in Southeast Asia.

Beyond these prominent sectors, the PRIVATE 100 list also includes enterprises from most critical areas of the economy, including securities, insurance, automobiles, raw materials, consumer goods, technology, retail, and logistics.

The food and beverage industry is also notable, with nearly 20 enterprises contributing over 22,000 billion VND. The Masan Group, a leading consumer goods and retail conglomerate, contributed nearly 8,000 billion VND, while beer enterprises in the top 100 contributed 6,000 billion VND, and other F&B enterprises contributed 8,600 billion VND.

The securities sector is well-represented with 15 enterprises in the PRIVATE 100 list, including three enterprises contributing over 1,000 billion VND. The technology sector, while having a modest number of large private companies, boasts two representatives contributing over 1,000 billion VND: FPT and VNG.

VNG, a Vietnamese technology company, has been expanding internationally and performing well in overseas markets. In 2023, its revenue from overseas markets reached 1,707 billion VND, a 33% increase from 2022. For the next three years, VNG aims for its revenue from foreign markets in the online gaming and AI cloud computing sectors to surpass its domestic revenue.

PRIVATE 100 – Top Private Enterprises with the Largest Budget Contributions in Vietnam is a list compiled by CafeF from publicly available sources or verifiable data. It reflects the total budget contributions of enterprises, including taxes, fees, and other payments. Enterprises with budget contributions of 100 billion VND or more in the latest fiscal year are eligible for inclusion in the list. Some notable enterprises in the 2024 list, reflecting their contributions for the 2023 fiscal year, include ACB, HDBank, Masan Group, OCB, PNJ, SHB, SSI, Techcombank, TPBank, Hoa Phat Group, VNG, VPBank, and VietBank (listed in alphabetical order).