Vietnam

Vietnam Net - E | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | UndeterminedEconomic Growth

Vietnam’s economy is entering a new phase described as “decompression,” characterized by the release of accumulated energy hindered by long-standing bottlenecks in development. This phase is about freeing the economy from excessive constraints to foster experimentation, creativity, and natural growth. The State must also be “decompressed” by removing bureaucratic barriers and restoring public trust to enable businesses to thrive. This requires fundamental changes in administrative operations rather than minor procedural adjustments.

A significant challenge identified is the undervaluation of the domestic sector compared to foreign-invested enterprises (FDIs), which benefit from structural advantages like lower financing costs and a more stable business environment. Equalizing conditions for domestic firms, especially by reducing interest rates and administrative burdens, is crucial for their growth and competitiveness. The government aims to create a fairer business environment supporting both domestic and foreign enterprises, moving towards a national investment strategy emphasizing large-scale projects and mobilizing mostly private capital to drive sustained economic growth.

Key growth opportunities include unblocking stalled projects and eliminating procedural inefficiencies to prevent new bottlenecks from arising. Comprehensive transport infrastructure development is also prioritized to reduce logistics costs, which currently represent 17-18% of GDP. However, capital injection must be accompanied by improved supporting conditions, such as better regulatory frameworks and governance, to avoid ineffective investments.

Empowering local authorities and businesses with innovation incentives is important but must be paired with protection mechanisms to ensure those who take risks are supported and not penalized. Addressing high interest rates remains critical; lowering and stabilizing rates over the long term will allow domestic businesses to compete more effectively. Proposed solutions include state-backed subsidies on lending rates with conditional enforcement for broad application and gradual phasing out aligned with economic strength, requiring strong political will and new mechanisms.

Structural bottlenecks to medium-term growth include the treatment of land, capital access, and human resources. Land policy must shift from treating land as a territorial asset to a market resource with properly defined property rights to avoid speculative distortions. Capital markets need to better support productive private investment rather than speculative activity. Human capital development calls for radical education reform, moving towards fostering creativity, independent thinking, and the integration of human and artificial intelligence to enhance innovation and competitiveness in the global economy.

Overall, Vietnam’s economic reform phase focuses on unlocking growth potential through systemic decompression, equalizing business conditions, strategic investments, infrastructure improvements, and education transformation to secure sustainable development in the coming years.

Vietnam Net - E | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Corporate Corruption or Fraud

Le Minh Tri, Secretary of the Party Central Committee and Standing Deputy Head of the Central Internal Affairs Commission, revealed that during the 13th Party Congress term, many large-scale, highly organized corruption cases resembling interconnected "ecosystems" were uncovered and addressed. These corruption networks involved banks, securities firms, valuation agencies, and notary offices, with hundreds of affiliated companies manipulating stocks, rigging auctions, distorting public investment, and exploiting crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The anti-corruption campaign was comprehensive, consistent, and led directly by the Party, significantly strengthening Party discipline, enhancing public trust, and reducing corruption, waste, and misconduct across government levels.

The campaign's success included improved asset recovery and tighter coordination between Party inspection bodies and judicial agencies. Moving forward under the 14th Party Congress, Le Minh Tri emphasized the need to reinforce Party leadership, uphold discipline, and implement a stricter yet humane legal framework that supports economic growth. He stressed the importance of legal and institutional reforms to close loopholes exploited by corrupt actors, eliminate regulatory deadlocks, and align with recent Politburo resolutions focused on legislative innovation and private sector development.

Prevention efforts will focus on strengthening transparency, expanding asset monitoring, and promoting cashless transactions. Empowering prosecutors to initiate lawsuits protecting public interests and encouraging voluntary cooperation for damage recovery are also priorities. The anti-corruption institutions must be efficient, with clear mandates from central to local levels, and policies should protect innovation while sanctioning irresponsibility. Le Minh Tri highlighted the need to foster a culture of integrity through education and to ensure anti-corruption bodies themselves maintain the highest ethical standards to effectively serve as guardians against corruption.

Vietnam Net - E | English | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Political Scandal or Corruption

At the 14th National Party Congress, Deputy Chief of the Central Inspection Committee Tran Van Ron reported significant progress during the 13th Party Congress term, noting that the Party’s inspection bodies handled an unprecedentedly broad and complex workload. They uncovered and resolved multi-layered violations across various sectors and localities that had previously caused public discontent, enforcing discipline with strictness and humanity, without exceptions or forbidden zones. Despite these achievements, Ron acknowledged ongoing challenges, including insufficient appreciation of inspection work among Party committees and weaknesses in self-checking and early violation detection.

Ron emphasized the importance of committed leadership, stating that effective inspection depends on top leaders taking personal responsibility and setting examples. He highlighted that discipline should protect the broader public interest, enforcing rules not merely to punish individuals but to strengthen governance by closing systemic loopholes. A key development during the 13th term was enhanced coordination between Party inspection, state audit, administrative inspection, and law enforcement, which enabled more decisive enforcement actions.

Looking forward to the 14th term, Ron called for bold reforms aiming to transform inspection into a central tool for political discipline and clean governance. This would involve focusing on prevention, early warning, and grassroots power control, tightening anti-corruption rules, and integrating them into public administration to structurally deter misconduct. Additionally, inspection agencies will pursue digital transformation to enable real-time, data-driven oversight, enhancing transparency and accountability through reforms in asset and income declarations. The ultimate goal is to develop a generation of inspectors who are morally upright, professionally skilled, and institutionally empowered to uphold Party discipline and integrity.