The private economic sector is entering a crucial window of opportunity as development policies become clearer, reform efforts more decisive, and the sector increasingly positioned at the centre of national growth strategies.
However, in order to turn the opportunities into reality, experts stressed the need for solutions to longstanding bottlenecks related to institutions, the business environment, access to resources and enterprise capacity are addressed in a substantive manner. The priority now is to create conditions that enable the private sector to grow stronger in both scale and quality.
Bridging gap between policy, execution
Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Dau Anh Tuan described the private economic sector as “large in number, but not yet strong.”
The sector currently accounts for 96.6% of all active enterprises, with more than one million businesses nationwide. However, over 80% employ fewer than 50 workers, while more than 70% have registered capital below 10 billion VND (379,355 USD).
These figures reflect the dominance of small-scale firms with limited financial resilience, family-based management models and modest capacity to withstand market shocks. Even relatively minor disruptions such as declining orders, rising costs, cash-flow pressure or prolonged administrative procedures can significantly affect operations.
The report also highlighted mounting pressure on businesses. About 60.2% of enterprises identified customer acquisition as their biggest challenge - the highest level in five years. The figure rose to 64.4% in manufacturing and 60.4% in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Meanwhile, 75.5% said they could not access bank loans without collateral.
These indicators point to a dual challenge - unstable market demand and continued difficulty accessing finance. Many enterprises possess viable products and operational capability but lack the capital needed to expand production, invest in technology or scale up operations.
Despite a range of State support policies, the gap between policy design and implementation remains a major concern. Businesses continue to report repeated requests for additional documents, prolonged approvals due to inconsistent interpretations among authorities and cumbersome procedures despite official simplification efforts.
VCCI President Ho Sy Hung warned that while such issues may not immediately trigger major disruptions, prolonged inefficiencies gradually erode investor confidence, delay expansion plans and weaken incentives for innovation.
According to Hung, Vietnam does not lack reform-oriented policies. The challenge lies in ensuring implementation is effective and resources are fully unlocked. When institutions remain inefficient, procedures complicated and access to land, capital and information constrained, “golden opportunities” cannot easily become drivers of growth.
VCCI has therefore called for more substantive consultation with businesses and a legal framework that is easier to understand, access and implement, helping create a more favourable environment for production and investment.
Accelerating reforms to remove bottlenecks
Recognising these challenges, the Government issued eight resolutions at the beginning of its new term focused on cutting and decentralising administrative procedures while simplifying business conditions. The reforms target amendments to 163 legal documents in a coordinated manner.
The Government aims to reduce at least 30% of administrative procedures, cut processing times and compliance costs by 50%, lower 30% of business conditions and eliminate unnecessary procedures altogether. To date, 184 procedures have been abolished, 134 decentralised to local authorities and 349 simplified. At the same time, 890 business conditions have been removed, while governance has gradually shifted from pre-inspection to post-inspection.
Nguyen Duy Hung, representative of Tan Hiep Phat Group, said businesses do not seek preferential treatment but rather a transparent, fair and predictable business environment.
Hung held that reform should be measured not by the number of documents revised or meetings held, but by the time businesses save, the costs reduced and the confidence restored.
Experiences from provinces with strong PCI performance also show that reform cannot remain merely a slogan. Vice Chairman of the Quang Ninh provincial People’s Committee Bui Van Khang noted that Quang Ninh has remained among the country’s top PCI performers for 13 consecutive years.
However, he stressed that improving the business environment is not a short-term campaign or a race based on investment incentives. More important are institutional quality, governance capacity, innovation and the ability to build trust among enterprises.
As growth expectations rise and competition intensifies, Vietnam’s private sector increasingly needs a genuine development ecosystem in which authorities not only advocate reform but actively help businesses reduce risks, identify opportunities and build confidence for long-term investment.
More than a year after the Politburo's Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW on private sector development came into effect, expectations now extend beyond increasing the number of enterprises. The goal is to build a stronger business community with greater resilience, larger ambitions and the capacity to compete in global supply chains.
Achieving this will require more decisive efforts to remove bottlenecks, improve institutional transparency, strengthen policy predictability and ensure fairer access to resources. Alongside State support, businesses themselves must accelerate innovation and improve competitiveness to become a key driver of Vietnam’s ambition for double-digit economic growth in the years ahead.
