Revised National Planning Creates New Space for Double-Digit Growth

Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc delivers a directive speech at a conference on adjustments to the National Master Plan and regional plans for the 2021–2030 period

Vietnam is entering a new stage of development shaped by a mix of opportunities, advantages, difficulties, and challenges. In this context, planning is playing an increasingly important role for the country. This was affirmed by Party General Secretary and President To Lam at the conference on implementing the Resolution of the 2nd Plenum of the 14th Party Central Committee: “Planning is development thinking translated into spatial organization. Therefore, comprehensive development planning must reflect integrated, multi-objective, and long-term thinking. It must create a more rational development structure, use resources more efficiently, distribute development space more evenly, improve regional connectivity, and open up greater room for future growth.”

Planning as the foundation for double-digit growth

On May 6, 2026, the conference announcing revisions to the National Master Plan and regional plans for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, took place as the economy entered a new stage of development with higher demands for growth quality, productivity, and competitiveness.

The latest revisions are comprehensive in scope. They not only incorporate orientations from the documents of the 14th National Party Congress but are also linked to the restructuring of administrative units and the implementation of a two-tier local government model. This opens up a new development space that is more closely aligned with practical conditions and international trends.

The targets set out reflect a high level of ambition: average annual GDP growth of more than 10%; GDP per capita reaching approximately US$8,500 by 2030; labor productivity growth exceeding 8.5% annually; and total factor productivity contributing more than 55% of growth.

To achieve these goals, the planning framework establishes a new growth model based on science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation. This is viewed as a key turning point in shifting the economy from extensive to intensive growth.

From a spatial perspective, the plan restructures the system of key economic regions and economic corridors. The addition of the North Central region as a new growth area alongside existing regions reflects efforts to expand growth drivers, reduce concentration pressure, and strengthen regional connectivity.

At the same time, North-South and East-West economic corridors, along with industrial, urban, and service belts, continue to take shape as the economy’s “circulatory system,” helping optimize the flow of goods, capital, and labor.

The conference announcing adjustments to the National Master Plan and regional plans for the 2021–2030 period, with a vision to 2050

Repositioning public investment to unlock social resources

Speaking at the conference, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc called for synchronized implementation of the plans, with public investment playing a leading role.

Under this approach, state resources will prioritize nationally significant projects, targeted programs, and especially inter-regional projects with broad spillover effects. This marks an important shift from fragmented investment toward more focused and strategic allocation of capital.

At the same time, restructuring the budget to increase the share of development investment spending and improve the disbursement efficiency of public investment capital continues to be treated as a prerequisite.

Public investment is intended not only to build infrastructure but also to serve as “seed capital” to mobilize social resources. As demand for development capital remains substantial, effectively attracting private sector and foreign direct investment has become an urgent priority.

For this reason, government directives also focus on improving the business and investment environment, reducing administrative procedures, and developing capital markets, particularly the stock market and corporate bond market, as medium and long-term funding channels.

 Institutional reform and technology-driven growth

Another major pillar identified by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc is institutional reform and the development of new growth drivers.

Accordingly, the legal framework related to planning, land, and investment will need to be reviewed and revised in a coordinated manner to remove institutional bottlenecks, which have long been regarded as a major obstacle to development.

At the same time, stronger decentralization and greater delegation of authority to local governments, combined with tighter inspection and supervision mechanisms, are expected to improve proactiveness and management efficiency.

The development of emerging industries and sectors has been placed at the center of the new growth model. Areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, digital technology, renewable energy, and logistics are identified as new drivers capable of creating breakthroughs.

At the regional level, the revised planning framework clearly defines the role of each area, from the Red River Delta as the leading growth engine and the Southeast region as the innovation hub to the Mekong Delta as a center for modern agricultural economics. This division of roles not only optimizes comparative advantages but also strengthens complementarities among regions.

The latest revision of the National Master Plan is therefore far more than a technical update. It represents a comprehensive repositioning of Vietnam’s development approach.

The consistent message from the Government is that planning must stay one step ahead, but its true value will only be proven through implementation. This requires close coordination among ministries, sectors, and local authorities, along with proactive participation from the business community and investors.