HCMC Young Business Association

Founded in 1994, the Ho Chi Minh City Young Business Association (YBA) was the first association expressly for young businesspeople in Vietnam. Its mission is to gather young entrepreneurs together to develop their business skills as well as to contribute to the development of the local and national economy. YBA’s major goal is to become a professional business support organization to better meet the increasing needs of members and to help them compete when Vietnam enters the global market.

YBA is large. It has 574 members, all of them owners or senior management of private companies. With such a large number of members naturally the group has a large executive board with a chairman, six vice chairpersons and 18 commissioners. The role of the executive board is limited to policy without excessive overlap in administration. Two vice chairs and six commissioners are women. Women also account for about one-fifth of the membership and play an increasingly important role. The Secretary General is a woman and eight out of the 10 office staff are also women. Member services account for about 40% of YBA’s yearly operating budget. The remaining 60% comes from membership fees and voluntary donors.

YBA has a good relationship with city government as well as other organizations. It has strong connections with the Vietnam Young Business Association, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Hanoi Young Business Association and the Can Tho Business Association. The group has organized many events with these partners to bring together businesses to share experience and resources and to date this has worked.

YBA provides a comprehensive range of services to its members including a website (www.ybahcm.com.vn), an attractive newsletter (print and online), legal archives, workshops and seminars in which topics include the WTO, intellectual property, the new Enterprise Law, trade promotion, site visits to successful businesses, networking, brand promotion and training.

Training

YBA frequently organizes trainings and workshops for middle and top managers. It regularly searches overseas courses to bring new knowledge and skills for international business, technology, and market situation. The group seeks to make this its core service through its YBA Joint Stock Company, to increase revenues. Service will be extended to non-members, and by partnering with Business Edge, a program of the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility, YBA can offer more practical and attractive courses.

“In comparison with other courses which I have taken, the training courses by YBA are well organized in terms of content, methodology, and supporting services, with topics which suit the reality of business and experienced trainers from reputed companies.”

- Mr. Vuong Quoc Quang, Director of Gia Gia Lac Company

Seminars: The Association also offers seminars to keep members up to date on developments in the political, social, legal, economic, and business environments. Organizers choose relevant topics and sought-after speakers.

Information: YBA also offers a comprehensive website, an attractive newsletter, and other channels. The website provides vital information about all aspects of the association’s work for both members and stakeholders.

Trade promotion: YBA has become a focal point for connecting members to their markets by providing information and opportunities via website and newsletter.

Lessons learned

• By joining the association, businesses have priority access to all of its services. They can in turn expand their networks overseas and tighten operations. And as a strong business association with a large number of businesses in the largest city in Vietnam, YBA has a strong voice with the public, central and local government, VCCI and other state agencies. It is a voice to the government on policy, laws and other issues related to business.

• Yet there is room for improvement. Members have asked for greater consulting services and more business visits to learn from first-hand experience at other companies.

“YBA’s operations are very good, with a lot of helpful training programs and conferences for members… I think that this is a strength of the association and needs to be continued.”

- Mr. Huynh Van Thien Thanh, Director of Huynh Nguyen Phung Co.