New impetus for private economic development

During the 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, the country achieved numerous outstanding economic achievements, such as GDP increasing from 346 billion USD in 2020 to 514 billion USD in 2025, ranking 32nd in the world; and GDP per capita reaching over 5,000 USD, officially entering the group of upper-middle-income countries. Among these encouraging results, the private sector has made a very important contribution.

Proud milestones

Looking back at the development journey of the private sector, economist Le Duy Binh, CEO of Economica Viet Nam, observed a very important change: private enterprises are no longer in the position of subcontractors but have risen to participate in solving the country’s major problems, shouldering the missions that the Party and state have set for the business community and entrepreneurs.

As part of the programme celebrating the 80th anniversary of Viet Nam’s National Day (September 2, 1945 - 2025), for the first time, people nationwide had the opportunity to attend a large-scale international exhibition on the theme “80 Years of Independence, Freedom, and Happiness” of the nation. Within just 19 days after opening, the Viet Nam Exposition Centre reached the milestone of 10 million visitors, demonstrating the immense public interest in the country’s remarkable development achievements.

The Viet Nam Exposition Centre, invested in by Vingroup, was completed in just 10 months of rapid construction on an area of 90 hectares, with a total investment of over 7,000 billion VND, meeting the deadline for serving the important 80th anniversary of the nation. Among them, the exhibition complex modelled after the image of the Golden Turtle deity, covering an area of over 10,000 square metres and featuring a steel dome structure weighing 24,000 tonnes and a dome beam system allowing for only a few millimetres of error, was completed by Dai Dung Group in 300 days and nights.

The overall events of the A80 Programme have shown that the project is worthy of being a symbol of a strong breakthrough Viet Nam, reaching a scale that ranks among the top 10 world exhibitions.

Meanwhile, in Phu Quoc, the urban infrastructure landscape is also changing daily to keep pace with the APEC 2027 conference. Two key projects, including the APEC Conference Centre and the Phu Quoc Airport expansion project, with investment from Sun Group, will contribute to making the island a leading international tourism and economic hub upon completion and operation.

The APEC Conference Centre, with a 11,050-square-metre conference and exhibition hall area featuring an 81m column-free span design, is expected to be the largest in the world upon completion. In addition, there is a professional dinner show stage with a capacity of up to 2,000 spectators, which will attract leading international art brands to design and stage world-class shows on Phu Quoc Island. This is not only a large project but also a symbolic structure serving national political and diplomatic goals.

For Phu Quoc Airport, the difference lies not only in increasing its operational capacity by 4.5 times its current capacity, equivalent to 20 million passengers per year, but also in the application of the world’s most modern technologies, aiming for a leading smart airport standard in the region under the operational consultancy of Changi Airport Group (the operator of Changi Airport, Singapore).

These outstanding projects all mark the mark of private sector economic development in the proud journey of the nation and its people. The effort to build projects that surpass regional and global icons demonstrates the ambition of Vietnamese private enterprises in creating nationally significant projects that bring pride to the country.

Notably, among the more than 560 major national projects scheduled for commencement and completion in 2025, over 74% of the investment capital comes from private enterprises, equivalent to approximately 3.84 trillion VND out of a total investment of over 5 trillion VND. The remainder is “seed capital” from public investment and investment from state-owned enterprises.

A turning point from Resolution No.68

According to the General Statistics Office, in December 31, 2020, there were nearly 700,000 active businesses nationwide, 97% of which were private enterprises. Despite significant fluctuations in business activity during the two years heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as of December 31, 2025, the number of active businesses nationwide has increased to nearly 1.1 million.

Notably, in the final year of the 13th Party Congress term, the private sector experienced a spectacular breakthrough thanks to the impact of Resolution No.68. From May to October 2025, an average of 18,500 businesses nationwide were newly established or resumed operations each month, a 43% increase compared to the average of the first four months of the year. Resolution No.68 has truly created new momentum for the development of the private economy. In 2025 alone, over 300,000 new businesses were registered and re-entered the market, with a record-breaking total for registered capital at over 6 trillion VND, representing a 30% increase in the number of businesses and a 71% increase in capital.

Along with this, there has been a significant improvement in job creation and worker income, contributing to social security. Although the number of businesses temporarily suspending operations or dissolving remains quite high, the fact that people and investors continue to seek new business opportunities — as evidenced by the record growth in the number of newly established businesses and those re-entering the market — demonstrates the growing confidence in business throughout the economy. Furthermore, the private sector includes over 5 million business households, making a significant contribution to economic growth.

Based on these specific figures, Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet, Head of the Economics and Policy Research Group, School of Economics (Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi), believes that the private sector has affirmed its role as a solid pillar in the economic journey through the challenging and volatile period of 2020-2025.

According to economic experts, 2026 is identified as a pivotal year, opening a new development cycle with the goal of double-digit GDP growth. Solutions for developing the private sector need to be more substantive, making this important economic sector a truly powerful endogenous driving force of the national economy.

To achieve the goal of having approximately 2 million businesses by 2030, Dr. Nguyen Minh Thao, Deputy Head of the Business Development and Business Environment Department, the National Institute for Economics and Finance, believes it is necessary to continue institutionalising the viewpoints, objectives, and solutions set out in Resolution No.68 and the tasks and solutions in the action program of the National Assembly and the government on implementing Resolution No. 68; while at the same time effectively implementing the mechanisms and policies already issued to support and encourage the private economic sector, including the public-private partnership model.

Specifically, it is necessary to prioritise solutions to improve the business environment; focus on implementation and the removal of institutional and policy barriers, ensuring a fair, transparent, accessible, safe, and low-cost business environment; and increase investment and focus on the digitalisation of administrative procedures. In addition, it is necessary to establish an independent, objective, and substantive evaluation mechanism for the results of implementing the goals, tasks, and solutions for developing the private economy in accordance with the spirit of Resolution No.68.