Highlighting the opportunities arising as global trade undergoes profound restructuring and consolidation, with increasingly stringent standards, lawmakers stressed the urgent need to build a sustainable ecosystem of business linkages.
According to the deputies, effective connections and greater opportunities to absorb scientific, technological, and technical advances would enable businesses to take on core stages of production more quickly. This would ensure that the gains generated by trade and investment growth are more deeply embedded in the economy, strengthening the competitiveness and standing of Vietnamese businesses in global value and supply chains.
While acknowledging the impressive growth in trade, many deputies pointed out persistent imbalances: exports rose by 24.5%, while imports increased by as much as 36.7%, resulting in a trade deficit of 19.42 billion USD. The FDI sector recorded a trade surplus, whereas the domestic sector ran a deficit. Domestic businesses continue to participate mainly in lower-tier stages of supply chains, while core technologies and the largest share of added value remain overseas.
One National Assembly deputy cited the example of coffee: raw coffee exports fetch around 5,600 USD per tonne, compared with 9,700 USD per tonne for processed coffee. In 2025, Viet Nam exported 9 billion USD worth of coffee, but processed products accounted for only roughly 15% of the total. This disparity in commercial value highlights the untapped potential to boost added value and retain a greater share of the returns for the domestic economy. What, then, needs to be done to address this issue?
Deputies noted that current bottlenecks stem not only from businesses' own capabilities, but also from a lack of coordination across the support ecosystem. Businesses may invest considerable effort in developing high-quality products with strong growth potential, but lack the legal tools and resources needed to scale up mass production. As a result, products may stagnate, be copied, or have to be sold on to foreign partners.
According to National Assembly Deputy Le Hoang Anh (the National Assembly Deputy Delegation of Gia Lai Province), Gia Lai exported approximately 1.5 billion USD worth of coffee in 2025. The raw material zones were already in place and markets had been secured, but businesses lacked the capital to purchase machinery and cover certification and traceability costs needed to meet the European market's anti-deforestation requirements. National Assembly Deputy Nguyen Thi Suu (the National Assembly Deputy Delegation of Hue City) said that, as of December 31, 2025, Hue had 6,947 operating businesses, most of which were micro-enterprises. Businesses producing conical hats, ceramics, jewellery, and bronze castings face difficulties expanding their operations and meeting environmental requirements in residential areas. However, the cost of relocating to industrial parks such as Phu Bai and Phong Dien may exceed their financial capacity. Deputies also highlighted the mismatch in various support policies for businesses seeking to join value chains, noting that these policies tend to focus on resolving immediate issues rather than providing sustained assistance.
The Politburo's strategic resolutions on developing the private sector and the foreign-invested economy, making breakthroughs in science and technology, promoting innovation, and advancing national digital transformation have clearly set out the need to strengthen linkages and facilitate technology transfer. Recently, the Prime Minister approved the Supporting Industries Development Programme for the 2026–2035 period and the project to promote Vietnamese businesses' direct participation in foreign distribution networks until 2030. At this session, the National Assembly is expected to pass several draft laws containing new provisions to support the development of supply chains and participation in value chains.
The next important step is to translate these policies into concrete action as soon as possible, aligning them with practical needs and overcoming fragmentation and dispersion to ensure consistent and effective implementation. Policy commitments must produce measurable results, while support must target the areas where businesses remain weak and underdeveloped. The number of Vietnamese businesses becoming suppliers and participating in value chains must increase; scientific and technological capabilities and innovation must be enhanced; and a greater share of added value must be retained domestically. National Assembly Deputy Pham Hung Thang (the National Assembly Deputy Delegation of Ninh Binh Province) proposed that the target of having around 10,000 domestic businesses participate in the supply chains of FDI enterprises by 2030 should be backed by concrete steps immediately.
During discussions on amendments to the Law on Investment, National Assembly deputies noted that efforts to attract major corporations and high-tech projects should not focus solely on project numbers or the scale of investment capital. Instead, the quality of linkages and the spillover effects on domestic businesses should be evaluated, particularly in terms of enabling them to participate more deeply in global production, value-added, and supply chains. Clear assessments should also be made of the potential for technology transfer, localisation rates, and contributions to the development of strategic industries. Measurable and verifiable output criteria should be set, such as the establishment of research and technology transfer centres. The level of incentives granted to investors should correspond to the extent to which they fulfil their commitments, while the State must put in place mechanisms for monitoring, post-investment inspection, and the withdrawal of incentives in cases of non-compliance.
Small and medium-sized enterprises currently account for more than 98% of all businesses nationwide and play a vital role in driving production and commerce, creating jobs, and improving both the pace and quality of economic growth. Therefore, helping these enterprises participate more deeply in value and supply chains, in conjunction with digital and green transformations, is a key priority. Green transformation helps upgrade techniques, technologies, and raw materials, improve waste treatment, and protect the environment. Digital transformation enhances governance capacity and market connectivity, while supply chain linkages help expand market scale, reduce investment costs, and strengthen resilience.
However, the current development of One Commune One Product (OCOP) items clearly illustrates the lack of such linkages. As of December 2025, Viet Nam had 18,234 three-star OCOP products, but only 48.3% had established stable raw material zones through value-chain integration. A locality may have dozens of OCOP-certified canna vermicelli products, yet fail to consolidate them into a unified brand or establish large-scale production under common standards capable of ensuring a steady supply to major distribution networks.
In light of this situation, National Assembly Deputy Tran Thi Hien (National Assembly Deputies Delegation of Ninh Binh Province) and many other lawmakers proposed incorporating further policies in the draft Law on the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises to support businesses in the same product sector in strengthening their cooperation and jointly building, managing, and developing shared brands associated with collective trademarks and geographical indications. According to the deputies, enshrining these policies in law would also provide a legal basis for enhancing the leading role of relevant agencies and fostering effective collaboration among trade promotion organisations, industry associations, major corporations, and FDI enterprises to help domestic businesses build reputable brands and develop high-quality products capable of penetrating international markets.
