Within the Government’s “National Strategy on Innovative Startups”, specific targets mapped out for 2030 encompass 1 million OPCs, 5 million business entities, 10,000 technology startups, 45 startup connectivity networks, inclusion in the top 40 global innovation ecosystems, and US$1.5 billion in venture capital.
By 2045, Vietnam aims for the startup economy to become a foundational pillar, setting ambitious quotas wherein every 10 citizens yield one entrepreneur, every 35 citizens yield one enterprise, and every 5,000 individuals yield one innovative startup, accompanied by $10 billion in venture capital investment.
To materialize these ambitious objectives, one of the preliminary solutions mandated by the Government is the research and construction of a pilot policy scheme to cultivate the “one-person company” paradigm. The Ministry of Finance has been designated to preside over, research, and propose pilot policies aimed at refining the mechanisms for establishing, managing, and advancing this model, with the Ministry of Science and Technology acting as the coordinating agency.
Individual household businesses, as commented by numerous experts in the field, continue to constitute a substantial proportion of the country's economy; however, they remain severely constrained regarding scalability and their capacity to integrate into modern value chains. Consequently, propelling the OPC model is projected to forge a novel business format that is intrinsically more transparent and agile compared to traditional household businesses.
Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Hoang Minh articulated that the OPC model can be perceived as a vivid manifestation of the nationwide startup movement under contemporary conditions. Current technology and digital platforms empower a single individual to seamlessly register an enterprise, autonomously manage expenditures, fulfill tax obligations, and orchestrate business operations via sophisticated applications. This equally serves as a crucial pillarto generate supplementary growth momentum for the digital economy.
Deputy Director General Pham Duc Nghiem of the National Agency for Startups and Technology Entrepreneurship (under the Ministry of Science and Technology) noted that a dynamic economy typically achieves a ratio of approximately 30 citizens per enterprise. If this ratio exceeds 60 citizens per enterprise, the peril of underemployment escalates.
Vietnam currently stands at over 100 citizens per enterprise, hence the cultivation of the OPC model is anticipated to substantially augment the sheer volume of enterprises, generate supplementary employment opportunities, and efficaciously harness the creative capacity of every individual within the digital economy.
The Ministry of Science and Technology is closely collaborating with various units of the Ministry of Finance to formulate a comprehensive support scheme, profoundly simplifying tax regulations and financial reporting mandates to ensure that OPCs operate with optimal convenience. This agency is concurrently cooperating with Hanoi, HCMC, and Da Nang City to construct robust pilot models preceding their nationwide proliferation.
Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Van Minh, Head of the Enterprise Training and Consulting Institute at Foreign Trade University, observed that the technological revolution, particularly digital technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI), is erupting vigorously, catalyzing monumental shifts spanning products, services, market deployment strategies, and entire business models.
The world is already discussing phenomena like “billion-dollar one-person businesses,” signifying that merely a single human operator is required, while the remainder is meticulously automated, robotized, and orchestrated by AI.
Should domestic enterprises exhibit sluggishness in adapting, clinging excessively to traditional operational models, they will inevitably face the extreme risk of elimination. In reality, Vietnam is currently witnessing an increasing influx of individuals operating independently across sectors such as consulting, design, and technology, adhering to a framework remarkably akin to the OPC model. Fostering this model not only serves to legitimate these commercial activities but also inaugurates a promising generation of agile, innovative entrepreneurs capable of rapidly mastering emerging technologies.
A one-person company (solopreneur or OPC) is a corporate model governed by a solitary individual, leveraging sophisticated automation technologies to undertake tasks that historically necessitated an entire team. In practice, this concept is also interpreted more broadly, encompassing micro-enterprises jointly operated by two to three individuals.
Over recent years, the OPC model has been expanding exponentially, propelled by the relentless advancement of AI models alongside proactive support policies from local authorities, ranging from the provision of complimentary office spaces to specialized credit packages tailored specifically for enterprises adopting this model.
