Vietnam'sRadicalStreamlining:HowAdministrativeReformsCanBoostEconomicGrowth

Introduction

Over the past four decades, Vietnam has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, with foreign trade reaching an all-time high of USD 786.29 billion in 2024 and foreign direct investment (FDI) placing it first among the top 15 global economies for FDI attraction. The country ranks 46th globally in the Global Innovation Index, reflecting its growing capacity for technological advancement.

Yet, despite these achievements, productivity and domestic value-added remain persistently low, and the economy faces structural constraints that threaten its long-term competitiveness. To sustain momentum and avoid the “middle-income trap,” Vietnam’s leadership has set ambitious targets: an average GDP growth target of 10% or higher per year for the 2026 - 2030 period, with the strategic vision of becoming a high-income, developed economy by 2045, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

However, this trajectory is not guaranteed. The country confronts mounting risks from demographic slowdown, skills gaps, institutional bottlenecks, and global headwinds which could undermine its reform agenda if left unaddressed.

In response, the government has launched a series of transformative initiatives, most notably Resolution 68, which designates the private sector as the “most important driver” of the national economy by 2030 and a “pioneering force” in science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation. The resolution calls for the emergence of a “new cohort of Vietnamese entrepreneurship”, tasked with reshaping the domestic economy through fair access to capital, land, technology, personnel, and data, and the elimination of systemic biases against private enterprise.