The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) returned to the first place in the Profit500 Ranking, a survey on the 500 most profitable companies in Vietnam in 2018.
The survey was announced this week by the Vietnam Report in collaboration with VietnamNet online newspaper.
The ranking aimed to honour enterprises that are profitable, have potential to become key pillars of the Vietnamese economy and contribute to the introduction of Vietnamese brands to the international business community.
The military-run telecom group Viettel, Samsung, Honda, PV Gas, the Vietnam Dairy Products Company (Vinamilk), Vietcombank, Hoa Phat Group, Viettinbank and Vingroup also made into the Top 10.
According to the survey, the average pre-tax profit of the top 500 most profitable companies in 2017 grew more than 65% from 2016. The sectors with the highest return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (REO) were telecommunications, information technology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, transportation, food, beverages and cigarettes.
The survey said most business insiders expect technology to remain the leader in attracting investment.
Technology was the most common answer among enterprises (51.4% of respondents), construction and real estate (40%) and retail (34.3%).
In the Profit500 Ranking, the companies with the highest average pre-tax profits are in telecommunications, information and technology. The enterprises have potential to show stable growth profit indicators.
While the world is moving towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the application of technology in Vietnamese businesses is still in its early stages due to lack of capital, infrastructure and a skilled workforce.
Businesses expect the Fourth Industrial Revolution to help cut their costs, optimise efficiency and increase market share.
In the 2018 Profit500, the number of firms in construction, building materials, real estate (14.8%), electricity (12.8%), finance (11.2%), and food, beverages and cigarettes (10.4%) accounted for a majority of businesses on the list.
The award ceremony for the ranking will be held on November 29 at the Vietnam National Convention Centre.
Under Document No. 10065/VPCP-KGVX, the Deputy PM agreed with proposals by the Ministry of Home Affairs for a one-day holiday for Vietnamese Culture Day in 2026, and a seven-day Tet holiday and a four-day National Day holiday in 2027.
By 2030, Vietnam aims to rank among the world’s top 40 in the GII; raise total social investment in R&D to at least 2% of GDP, with non-State funding accounting for over 60%; increase international scientific publications by an average of 10% annually; and raise the number of patent applications and granted patents by an average of 16-18% annually.
The State Bank of Vietnam set the daily reference exchange rate at 25,624 VND/USD on October1, down 3 VND from the previous day.
Quang Ninh's GRDP grew 15.04% in the third quarter, also leading the country.
Vietnam needs flexible incentives and specialised green financial instruments, stronger inter-sectoral coordination, improved local governance capacity and a more complete MRV data system, said Ramla Khalidi, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam.
As the country enters a new development phase with greater demands for stronger marine-economy growth, institutional bottlenecks have emerged and need to be addressed.
Experts from the Institute of Vietnam and World Economy under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences noted the quality of recent growth as the high growth rate has been recorded against an increasingly higher comparative base.
Vietnam's Halal exports remain modest at around 900 million USD a year, accounting for less than 1% of the global market. Most exports are still raw agricultural and seafood products. Only around 1,000–1,300 Vietnamese businesses obtained or maintained Halal certification during 2024–2026.
Vietnam needs a comprehensive policy framework to remove legal and procedural bottlenecks and create conditions for offshore wind power projects to access long-term investment capital, helping to unlock the country’s substantial offshore wind potential, said insiders.
Under a decision of the municipal People’s Committee on establishing an inter-agency working group, departments and agencies are responsible for identifying facilities subject to greenhouse gas inventories, developing emissions-reduction plans and studying projects capable of generating carbon credits.
According to data from the Vietnam Customs cited by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), shrimp exports reached 478.5 million USD in August, up 4.2% from the same month last year. The eight-month total stood at 3.3 billion USD, representing a year-on-year increase of 12%.
Vietnam is seen as a potential market, with considerable room for growth in real estate, particularly commercial property, compared with some regional markets. Strong Vietnam-Russia ties and opportunities to establish foreign-invested enterprises are also considered favourable for Russian investors.
For 2021-2030, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam proposed bringing forward the investment in a parallel taxiway system and a connecting taxiway north of Runway No. 2 at Phu Quoc International Airport, in order to connect with the aircraft maintenance and repair facility (hangar) planned for the northern area of the airport.
For LNG-fired power to fulfill its role in Vietnam’s energy transition, bottlenecks in institutions, infrastructure, electricity pricing, PPAs, power dispatch and financing must be addressed together.
From policy and infrastructure to industrial real estate, Vietnam’s FDI advantages are broadening towards a more integrated production ecosystem, offering investors a stronger combination of conditions for high-value, technology-intensive and long-term projects.
As trade expands, systemic bottlenecks across transport networks, warehousing, ports, border gates, and industrial zones are becoming more apparent. Experts emphasise the need to shift from a fragmented, project-by-project approach toward strategic management structured around trade corridors and integrated supply chains.
The company will buy non-performing loans from credit institutions and foreign bank branches, recover and dispose of debts and collateral, restructure loans and support lenders in resolving bad debts.
Do Ngoc Hung, Trade Counsellor and head of the Vietnam Trade Office in the US, said what stands out is not only the growth in trade volume but also the increasingly deep economic ties between the two countries.
According to the Ministry of Finance, State budget revenue in the first eight months of 2026 was estimated at 2.02 quadrillion VND (77.7 billion USD), equivalent to 80% of the annual estimate and up 16% year-on-year. Domestic revenue reached 1.75 quadrillion VND, accounting for 86.6% of total revenue and rising 16.6%.
Hanoi aims to achieve average annual export growth of at least 12% during 2026-30, with the city seeking to diversify export markets, boost high-tech and value-added products and reduce reliance on traditional markets.