​Develop a sustainable supply chain in a new context

At the dialogue session "Point Disruptions with Long-term Asian Effects", experts assessed that the global supply chain is being broken at many important stages due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, US-China trade competition, Russia-Ukraine conflict, climate change, etc. This causes the global supply chain to continue to face new difficulties and challenges, significantly affecting the Vietnamese economy. Local events sometimes erupt and cause disruptions, then all services become overwhelmed. Recently, the global financial system has been destabilized post-COVID and is developing potentially into a worldwide recession.

Overview of the Dialogue session "Point Disruptions with Long-term Asian Effects"

According to speaker Nobumitsu Akai - Director of JFR Group, Japan, supply chain disruption creates both opportunities and challenges for economic development. Disruption helps diversify the global economy, create a circular economy, and create supply diversification. This is also the "key", an opportunity for each country to diversify its economy. Viet Nam has a good economy. Particularly, Viet Nam's economy has a huge contribution from small enterprises. He believed that Viet Nam's economy will continue to succeed and take advantage of development momentum.

Speaker Francis Schortgen - Associate Dean of Faculty, University of Utah Asia Campus, Korea said that the global supply chain of goods and services is facing major challenges, posing an urgent need to diversify supply chains to avoid the vulnerability of focusing on only one country, one region or one single manufacturer. The negotiating power of the parties will be a better solution to reduce the economic impact caused by supply chain disruptions. With a circular economy, each country will reduce its dependence on entities, and applying Blockchain technology will create better connections.

Delegates discuss at the Dialogue session

Experts also say that, for Viet Nam, maintaining sustainability is a top priority in the development roadmap. Viet Nam needs to reorganize the industrial production supply chain, deploy new forms, create sustainability and flexibility to develop the supply chain; promote the development of domestic commodity supply chains; use technology throughout the value chain to create more flexibility and transparency for sustainable supply chains; take advantage of the benefits that free trade agreements (FTAs) bring to expand the search for raw material supplies and output for products. At the same time, we need to participate in cooperation in the global supply chain to ensure a durable and diversified supply chain, avoiding the risk of value chain disruption and supply interruption.

Investment capital flows are pouring into Asia

At the Dialogue session "Asia Impact Investing", speakers discussed the issue that as Asian companies gradually grow and access financial markets for refinancing, there will be opportunities for impact investors. According to the speakers, there needs to be strategies and solutions for issues such as how to generate sustained and blended value; examines the impact investing in changing Asia's economic and social fabric and how to inspire investors to transit from theory to practice fostering opportunities for action.

Overview of the Dialogue session "Asia Impact Investing"

Experts also explain that the banking crisis in the US is directing cash flow into assets in Asia. Investors are confidently betting on China and emerging economies in Asia. In addition, the need to establish new supply chains shows that investment in the Asian region is likely to increase, especially in logistics. Connecting investors looking for a reliable source of income with projects in need of financing is the mission of private credit companies, which is a lucrative business in Asia and may become increasingly popular.

Sharing the issue of how Vietnamese enterprises attract foreign investment, Mr. Marko Kasic - Founder of FundLife International, Philippines said that most investors are looking for good opportunities. Enterprises in Viet Nam must understand their problem and demonstrate its urgent necessity if they are considering impact investing. He emphasized that most investors want to see tangible return on their capital, but they also want to see returns from a positive social impact. Therefore, according to him, investors need to have a good solution and then provide one or more clearly convincing case studies on why they should invest in Viet Nam. And in fact, investors are also interested in emerging markets, especially Viet Nam, a promising market, with growth opportunities, and a developing country.

Experts exchange content related to investment in Asia

Also, according to Mr. Marko Kasic, for startups to access funding sources of investment capital, they need to access venture capital and need to come up with attractive proposals and plans. So, like any enterprise, they need proposals and need to meet the right organizations, such as the Asian Development Bank or the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

According to Mr. Tadahiro Kaneko - Deputy Head of Sustainability, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan, to truly scale impact investing, establishing an appropriate framework for KPIs is critical, and all frameworks for measuring impact need to be backed by science and third-party reviews. Therefore, financial institutions have continued to strive to establish a standard and convincing framework for measuring impacts. To create sustainable value, according to Mr. Tadahiro Kaneko, it is particularly important to come up with reliable and measurable KPIs, in addition to cash profits.

Family-owned businesses have lots of competitive advantages

Revolving around the topic "Family-owned Businesses: Propelling Asia's Growth", experts said that when mentioning family-owned companies, people immediately think of a small-scale company, many people from the same family or clan run the company and are less trusted by employees when choosing a place to work. However, the reality is completely opposite. The family-owned company currently has a great competitive advantage when its credit score is 12% higher than other businesses.

Discussion session "Family-owned Businesses: Propelling Asia's Growth"

According to Ms. Veronica Shim - Founder of E-Alliance, Singapore, assessing sustainability is first seen from the assets and prosperity of that company. Strong finances and property are the foundation for future generations. According to her, for the family-owned company to continue to develop further, the next generation must be imbued with business experience, partnership relationships, and customers, and be trained with vision and wisdom to further develop the company.

According to speaker Li Zhongtao - CEO, Capsio Technology Co., China, technology advancement is happening rapidly in business models. Family-owned businesses always have a transfer of leadership, financial resources, operating model along with experience and knowledge. Therefore, family-owned businesses applying technology to digitize and transfer effectively will help the next generation receive and develop the business more sustainably.

Many experts participate in the Discussion session

Ms. Becky Wong – CEO, Globex Capital Partners, Hong Kong SAR, assessed Viet Nam as one of the countries with the most strongly developed economies in Asia. Private and family-owned businesses play a significant role in Viet Nam's GDP.

According to her, Vietnamese family-owned businesses need to focus on achieving short-term goals; building own identity and values; profit income but still must ensure sustainability. On the other hand, Vietnamese family-owned businesses should prioritize improving their digital capabilities and rethinking their business operations, considering changing and adjusting your business model with the top priority being expanding into new markets in the coming years.