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17/04/2026, 02:50
Building strong institutions to achieve breakthrough growth
Viet Nam is entering a new era of development with demands for rapid yet sustainable growth. To achieve this, it is necessary not only to adjust policies but also to make major shifts in mindset, thereby enhancing the effectiveness and role of both the State and enterprises in the economy.
Conclusion No. 18-KL/TW dated 2 April 2026 of the 14th Party Central Committee’s second plenum has set the goal of accelerating reforms and perfecting institutions; removing bottlenecks; promoting the State’s creative role; and strengthening the efficiency and leadership of enterprises, with the aim of achieving double-digit growth during the 2026–2030 period.
Persistent bottlenecks in the business environment
Viet Nam’s business environment has improved in recent years and received positive recognition, yet several bottlenecks remain, even becoming obstacles to growth targets. These include overlaps and contradictions between laws, with inconsistent application that causes enterprises to lose time, incur costs, and miss business opportunities.
General regulations are applied differently across localities, particularly in land, construction, and environmental sectors, thereby increasing compliance costs, creating inequality, and reducing investment attractiveness.
Viet Nam’s business environment has improved in recent years and received positive recognition, yet several bottlenecks remain, even becoming obstacles to growth targets.
In addition, policies often lack stability, changing rapidly without transition periods. This makes it difficult for enterprises to build long-term plans, erodes confidence and investment motivation, and hampers production and business activities.
These shortcomings are clearly reflected in the Q1/2026 socio-economic report of the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance. Nationwide, about 96,000 enterprises were newly established or resumed operations, up 31.7%.
However, 91,800 enterprises exited the market, up 16.5% year-on-year, showing that enterprise quality and resilience remain limited. If not addressed promptly, this “enter–exit cycle” will continue, undermining economic recovery and jeopardising the double-digit growth target for the 2026–2030 period.
Reforming institutions to empower enterprises
To thoroughly resolve these obstacles, it is crucial to promote substantive, synchronous, and consistent institutional reforms, with enterprises placed firmly at the centre. Legal reviews should move beyond individual laws to encompass the entire framework affecting enterprise operations, in order to identify bottlenecks and comprehensively address overlaps. Policy stability must be ensured, while clear issuance roadmaps are needed to allow enterprises time to adapt.
At the same time, business conditions must continue to be cut and simplified to avoid increasing compliance burdens. A modern post-control system based on risk management and digital technology should be built, reducing direct interventions and creating space for enterprises to be proactive and innovative.
The State must shift decisively from the mindset of “managing enterprises” to “facilitating enterprises” so they can thrive.
More importantly, institutional reform must be pursued with a systemic, strategic mindset: placing enterprises as the key driver of the economy and using the market as the measure of effectiveness. The State must shift decisively from the mindset of “managing enterprises” to “facilitating enterprises” so they can thrive.
When the State truly becomes a supporter of enterprise development, and institutions themselves become a competitive advantage, the nation’s double-digit growth target will no longer be an ambitious aspiration but an inevitable outcome of a strong and consistent renewal process.
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