The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) yesterday held the 2026 Business Forum under the theme “Vietnamese Enterprises on the Global Economic Map: Innovating for Breakthroughs” in Ho Chi Minh City. At the forum, businesses called for synchronized solutions to address bottlenecks in institutions, capital, and support ecosystems.
Speaking at the event, VCCI Vice President Vo Tan Thanh said that with GDP in 2025 estimated at around US$514 billion and total trade turnover nearing US$930 billion, Vietnam has entered the world’s top 20 economies by trade scale. However, most Vietnamese enterprises remain positioned in low value-added segments of global supply chains while their internal capabilities have yet to meet evolving international requirements.
A key solution proposed is to strengthen core business capacity, focusing on technology, governance, and supply chain linkages. Director Dinh The Hien of the Institute of Informatics and Applied Economics Research emphasized that enterprises can no longer compete on low costs alone, but must move into higher value-added activities such as design, product development, branding, and distribution systems. This transition, he noted, cannot be achieved in isolation but requires the formation of industry clusters and business ecosystems, where leading firms play a central role in connecting small and medium-sized enterprises to participate more deeply in value chains. Such an approach would help increase localization rates and retain more value within the domestic economy.
From a transformation perspective, Chairman Dinh Hong Ky of the Ho Chi Minh City Green Business Association stressed the need to integrate green and digital transformation within a single strategy. Rather than viewing these as compliance costs, businesses should treat them as leverage to enhance competitiveness, meet ESG standards, ensure traceability, and reduce carbon emissions—requirements that are increasingly becoming “passports” for participation in global supply chains.
However, implementation remains a major challenge, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. He suggested that relevant authorities should roll out targeted support programs, including advisory services, workforce training, and technology transfer, to help businesses build appropriate upgrading road maps as global standards continue to rise.
Vietnamese firms seek capital, markets, and policy reform
At the forum, many participants proposed focusing on removing constraints related to finance, markets, and the policy environment. Nguyen Duc Lenh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam’s Region 2 branch, noted that outstanding green credit of approximately VND780 trillion (US$29.61 billion) indicates a strong shift of capital toward sustainable sectors. However, to access these funds, businesses must meet standards on transparency, governance, and environmental performance. Therefore, solutions should not only expand capital sources but also design financial mechanisms suited to business realities.
Preferential credit packages, innovation support funds, and green finance models should be made more accessible, with simplified conditions and clear guidance to help enterprises tap into available capital.
Pham Van Viet, Standing Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Textile and Garment Association, said businesses should proactively diversify markets and make effective use of free trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to reduce reliance on traditional markets. Expanding into new markets would also encourage enterprises to upgrade product standards and governance practices in line with international requirements, marking an important step toward moving beyond outsourcing and deeper into global value chains.
Participants also underscored the need to further improve the business environment toward greater transparency, stability, and predictability. Chairman Nguyen Ngoc Hoa of the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association emphasized that reducing administrative procedures and simplifying regulations related to investment, land, taxation, and innovation would help enterprises cut compliance costs and focus resources on upgrading production.
At the same time, strengthening the innovation ecosystem linked to businesses, including promoting collaboration among enterprises, research institutes, and training institutions, would enhance technological capacity and develop a high-quality workforce, said the chairman.
