HA NOI — Young entrepreneurs played an important role in national economic growth, said State President Nguyen Minh Triet here on Monday.

Receiving outstanding young entrepreneurs who won the 2008 Viet Nam’s Golden Star Award, he said he was pleased with the development of the Vietnamese Young Entrepreneurs’ Association, which has 53 sub-associations and clubs with a total of more than 7,000 members.

The State President spoke of the difficulties currently facing the country and asked young entrepreneurs to join hands to overcome the situation.

About 200 entrepreneurs won the Viet Nam’s Golden Star Award. In the past year, the winners earned total revenues of US$24 billion, created jobs for more than 400,000 people, and contributed VND24 trillion ($1.4 billion) to the State budget.

The young entrepreneurs held a procession to raise money for poor students and other social activities.

Top brands

The Two-hundred top brands were given awards at a ceremony held by the Viet Nam Youth Union and the Viet Nam Young Business Association, in Ha Noi yesterday.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said that the domestic business community was a pioneering force in the national reformation process, and contributed to Viet Nam’s integration in the global economy.

He congratulated the winners, adding that the award was an honour and also a responsibility, as entrepreneurs have to pay attention not only to expanding their business, but also to social security.

The sixth annual Viet Nam’s Golden Star Awards were attended by a record 1,000 businesses, and 279 were chosen to enter the final round of competition, said Viet Nam Young Business Association vice chairman and general secretary Pham Tan Cong.

A big change this year was the introduction of regional awards to cater to the increasing number of enterprises wishing to take part, said Cong, adding that winners were classified as Top 10, Top 100 or Top 200 enterprises. He noted that companies based in major cities did well this year.

This year’s Top 10 included Viet Nam Rubber Group, the Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group, the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, FPT Corp, Sai Gon Jewellery Co and Truong Hai Automobile Co.

Nguyen Trung Chinh, CEO and President of the CMC Group, an award winner, said that winning the award will help in developing brand recognition, and in improving quality in the future.

Winning brands were chosen based on criteria such as profitability, competitiveness and brand positioning. Quality, technology and environmental impact were also considered.

Winners came from a broad range of sectors, including IT, real estate, securities, engineering, banking, finance, and tourism. — VNS