HANOI: Ambitious targets set out in the Politburo’s recent resolutions indicate that Vietnam is no longer aiming merely to develop an economy with a large number of enterprises, but is now aspiring to build corporations capable of competing at the regional level and gradually entering the global arena.
Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW, issued by the Politburo in May last year on private sector development, sets a target of two million active enterprises by 2030, including at least 20 large corporations participating in global value chains.
Subsequently, Resolution No. 79-NQ/TW, issued in January this year on state-owned enterprise development, aims for 50 state-owned enterprises to rank among South-East Asia’s top 500 companies and between one and three to be listed among the world’s top 500 by 2030.
The resolution also seeks to build several strong state-owned economic groups and enterprises with large scale, modern technology, and regional and international competitiveness, playing a pioneering role in leading domestic firms to participate more deeply in global production and supply chains, particularly in strategic and key sectors of the economy.
After 40 years of Doi Moi (1986 to 2026), Vietnam has witnessed the emergence of major economic groups across many sectors, said Dau Anh Tuan, deputy secretary-general of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
In manufacturing, for example, Thaco has developed an automobile and mechanical engineering production ecosystem in Quang Nam Province on a scale considered among the largest in South-East Asia.
Meanwhile, VinFast has become a notable case as Vietnam’s first electric vehicle manufacturer, establishing a large-scale factory in Hai Phong, listing on the Nasdaq exchange, and selling vehicles in several international markets, including North America, Europe, and South-East Asia.
In addition, Hoa Phat Group has grown from a small furniture workshop into one of South-East Asia’s leading steel manufacturers, producing millions of tonnes of steel annually and competing directly with global steel corporations in export markets. In technology.
FPT has become one of the region’s largest information technology companies, operating in dozens of countries and providing digital transformation services to multinational corporations.
In consumer goods, Vinamilk has built a dairy brand present in more than 50 countries, supported by internationally standardised farms and factories, while Masan Group has developed a consumer ecosystem spanning food, beverages, and retail, serving tens of millions of consumers daily.
These enterprises demonstrate that private businesses are fully capable of building national brands with regional competitiveness.
In infrastructure and real estate, Vingroup has undertaken projects on an unprecedented scale in the history of Vietnam’s private sector, ranging from urban developments and hospitals to schools and electric vehicle production.
Sun Group, BRG Group, and other companies have also invested billions of dollars in tourism infrastructure, resorts, and airports, contributing to the transformation of numerous economic regions.
Statistics showed that Vietnam had nearly 1.1 million active enterprises across multiple sectors by the end of last year.
However, according to Dau Anh Tuan: “The business sector is broad in scale but not yet strong in capacity or depth”.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Duc Hien noted that most enterprises still rely heavily on capital, whereas achieving the goal of becoming a modern industrialised country by 2045 requires economic groups focused on industrial sectors.
Sharing this view, economist Tran Dinh Thien said international development experience showed that becoming an economic powerhouse requires strong economic groups capable of leading the economy and competing globally.
These enterprises must not only withstand global economic fluctuations but are also expected to become among the most important drivers of the economy.
Vietnamese enterprises remain relatively young, small, and weak, and if they continue to face constraints in development space, it will be difficult for them to evolve into corporations capable of leading the economy.
Vietnam, therefore, needs to change the way it supports businesses, said Thien. — Viet Nam News/ANN
