HCMC – Party General Secretary To Lam has signed a new Politburo resolution on the development of the state business sector, which eyes 50 State-owned enterprises (SOE) among Southeast Asia’s top 500 firms and one to three SOEs among the world’s top 500 corporations by 2030.
Resolution 79 affirms that the state economy is a particularly important component of the socialist-oriented market economy. Its foundation comprises resources owned, managed and controlled by the State to serve socio-economic development goals, macroeconomic stability, and national defense and security.
These resources include land, mineral and water resources, seas and airspace, underground space, State-invested infrastructure works, the State budget, national reserves, off-budget State financial funds, SOEs, State-owned credit institutions, State capital in enterprises in which the State holds up to 50% of charter capital, and public service units.
The resolution sets out specific targets through 2030, with a strong focus on developing a synchronized and modern system of strategic infrastructure to meet national development needs in a new era. Priority will be given to completing major national infrastructure projects of large scale with inter-regional, inter-provincial and international connectivity.
The resolution aims to have 50 SOEs ranked among the 500 largest corporations in Southeast Asia, and one to three SOEs among the world’s top 500 companies by 2030. It also calls for the development of several strong State business groups and SOEs with large scale, modern technology and regional and global competitiveness, playing a pioneering and leading role in integrating domestic enterprises more deeply into global production and supply chains, especially in key and strategic sectors.
Another notable goal is to have at least three State-owned commercial banks ranked among Asia’s top 100 banks by total assets. Four State-owned commercial banks are expected to take the lead in technology adoption and governance capacity, and to play a core role in terms of scale, market share and market-regulating capacity across the banking system.
Looking ahead to 2045, the resolution envisions around 60 SOEs among Southeast Asia’s top 500 firms and five SOEs among the world’s top 500. At least 50% of public service units are expected to become financially self-sustaining in terms of recurrent and investment spending, or to operate effectively under market-based mechanisms.
The resolution also stresses the need for a strong shift in leadership and governance thinking, moving from administrative management toward a development-enabling and modern governance approach with decisive action. A synchronized, transparent legal framework must be completed in a timely manner to remove institutional bottlenecks.
A key task highlighted is to put an end to overlapping, repetitive, prolonged and unnecessary inspections, examinations and audits. The resolution urges stronger application of science and technology so as to conduct digital inspections and audits in line with the national digital transformation roadmap across ministries, agencies, localities and enterprises. Acts of abuse of inspection and audit powers that make life difficult for organizations are to be dealt with strictly and promptly.
The resolution encourages businesses, especially SOEs, to invest overseas in the exploration, extraction and processing of mineral resources that are scarce or unavailable domestically. Priority will also be given to developing key marine and island infrastructure to support economic growth while strengthening national defense and security. The marine economy is expected to become an important pillar of the state economy.
The resolution calls for breakthrough mechanisms and a synchronized legal corridor, including controlled sandboxes, to promote the development of the space economy, low-altitude economy, and the aviation and aerospace industries.
It also stresses the need to build a regulatory framework for the management and use of underground space, integrating underground spatial planning with urban and infrastructure planning.
For infrastructure assets, the resolution calls for long-term, synchronized and forward-looking development strategies and plans. It encourages expanding public-private partnerships, including “public investment – private management” and “private investment – public use,” along with other PPP forms, to build, manage and operate infrastructure works in the most efficient manner.
Urgent additions to the legal framework are required for managing and utilizing cultural, sports and tourism infrastructure, as well as infrastructure in industrial parks, hi-tech parks, export processing zones, economic zones, free trade zones and international financial centers invested by the State, in order to mobilize non-budgetary resources while ensuring efficiency, transparency and prevention of wastefulness and losses.
Resolution 79 also underscores the continued restructuring of State capital in enterprises and the reform and reorganization of SOEs. This includes a comprehensive restructuring of the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) toward professional capital investment, with a view to forming a national investment fund.
The resolution calls for enhancing the capacity and effectiveness of the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC) and the Vietnam Debt and Asset Trading Corporation (DATC) to support restructuring, particularly financial restructuring and resolution of bad debt in the SOE and banking sectors under market mechanisms.
For State-owned credit institutions, the Politburo requires reorganizing the network of State-owned commercial banks to improve their efficiency. Charter capital injections will continue to strengthen their financial capacity, capital adequacy ratios and overall performance.
Mechanisms and policies for developing the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies will be refined, while the Vietnam Development Bank will undergo comprehensive restructuring to diversify funding sources, increase capital, streamline operations and enhance effectiveness, thereby reinforcing the State’s role in investment and social welfare in line with socio-economic development goals.
