Top firms scoop awards at ARA 2015

The Annual Report Awards have helped establish a culture of corporate governance in Vietnam

Out of nearly 600 entries from listed firms in Vietnam, the 2015 Annual Report Awards (ARA) honoured the 50 best annual reports from companies, 37 of which are listed on the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE), and 13 on the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).

The Outstanding Award went to the Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation for the excellent content and presentation of its report. The firm also received first prize for the Best Corporate Governance Section.

Coming in second and third were Bao Viet Holdings and Vinamilk, both of whom were also named for the Best Corporate Governance Section award.

Meanwhile, the Sustainability Reporting Awards were conferred upon PV Drilling (first prize) and Vinamilk (second prize). Three Consolation Prizes were also awarded to Bao Viet Holdings (for thoroughness), Imexpharm (for reliability), and FPT (for presentation).

The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) joined the selection board for the Sustainability Reporting Awards, selecting the above five winners out of 87 reports that included sustainable development issues.

“Thanks to tremendous efforts by the authorities, media partners, our exclusive sponsor, listed firms, and other participating institutions, over the past eight years, the ARA have triggered a remarkable improvement in annual reporting,” said HOSE CEO Phan Thi Tuong Tam, head of the Organising Committee and chair of the Selection Board.

She stressed that the 2015 ARA continued to uphold the criteria of high standards, transparency, professionalism, and creativity in annual reports. These strict criteria will become a great force in making the Vietnamese stock market more transparent, Tam said.

Director of Business Development at Dragon Capital Pham Nguyen Vinh echoed this view, stating that increasing information transparency will boost the competitiveness of the Vietnamese stock market, especially in terms of attracting foreign capital and helping to avoid excessive volatility of capital flows.

For the Best Corporate Governance Section award, corporate governance officer at IFC Vietnam and member of the Selection Board Nguyen Nguyet Anh commented, “Many firms in the ARA have shown dramatic development when they use the annual reports as a channel to connect with investors. The corporate governance section in many reports is in line with the best international standards.”

Experts judging the Sustainability Report Awards from the IFC and ACCA noted that just three years after the debut of the Sustainability awards, it was exciting to see many more firms paying close attention to sustainability reporting.

Last week’s ARA ceremony also included a seminar on corporate governance, which was attended by experts from the Central Institute of Economic Management, leading ASEAN firms, Dragon Capital, and HOSE.

The participating experts provided the latest updates on the corporate governance situation in Vietnam and held a discussion with listed firms on the new corporate governance rules, which are specified in the revised Law on Investment, effective from July 1. They also shared their experience in corporate governance, suggested solutions to improve its practice in Vietnam, and mentioned important notes on the corporate governance section in annual reports.

As in the previous seven years, the 2015 ARA was organised by HOSE, HNX and VIR’s sister publication Dau tu Chung khoan, with Dragon Capital as the sole sponsor.

(*) Thanks to its first position in the Top 10, as well as excellent content and presentation, the annual report of the Ho Chi Minh Securities Corporation (HSC) has been chosen by the Selection Board for “Best of the Best” Award.