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.

Cục Thuế: Không căn cứ doanh thu 2026 để truy thu thuế khoán các năm trước

VN Express | Local Language | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Regulation

Starting in 2026, millions of households under the lump-sum tax regime will transition to declaring and paying taxes based on actual revenues. Despite concerns over potential retroactive tax assessments if declared 2026 revenues exceed previous lump-sum amounts, the Tax Department clarified in Official Dispatch 307 dated January 19 that it will not use 2026 declared revenues to retroactively assess or recover tax obligations from prior years. This applies to taxpayers assigned revenues and payment levels by the tax authority through 2025 and earlier, and to those whose taxable revenues changed by 50% or more due to shifts in operational scale.

Deputy Director General Mai Sơn emphasized that administrative sanctions regarding invoices for business households have been designed to be simpler and more appropriate to their scale, confirming that declared revenues in 2026 will not be used to recover lump-sum taxes for past years. The tax authority will also enhance support channels and provide step-by-step guidance to facilitate the declaration process for business households.

However, if fraud or revenue concealment causing tax shortfalls is detected, households or individual businesses will face sanctions under Decree 125/2020. Penalties can include warnings, fines up to 200 million VND for organizations and 100 million VND for individuals, fines on false declarations equaling 20% of the missing tax, and tax evasion fines from one to three times the evaded amount. Additional measures include suspension of invoice printing, full payment of taxes and penalties, and potential criminal prosecution for serious offenses.

By the end of 2024, Vietnam had approximately 3.6 million business households and individuals, with 2.2 million stably operating under lump-sum or declared regimes. These contributed around 26 trillion VND to the budget in 2024, with 17 trillion VND collected in the first half of that year.

Đặt hàng doanh nghiệp nội địa tham gia các dự án trọng điểm quốc gia

Dantri | Local Language | News | Jan. 23, 2026 | Regulation

Acting Minister of Industry and Trade Lê Mạnh Hùng highlighted significant economic achievements during the 2021-2025 term, with the Industry and Trade sector playing a strategic role in national development. Industrial production saw strong recovery and growth, particularly in processing and manufacturing industries, driving industrialization, modernization, and progress towards autonomy, connectivity, green transition, digital transformation, and international integration.

However, challenges remain, including low technological autonomy, limited development of foundational industries and source technologies, lagging labor productivity, and slow adoption of green and smart production methods. The country faces a new era emphasizing science, technology, innovation, green transition, digital transformation, and deep international integration.

To advance industrial and commercial development, the Ministry aims to focus on completing institutions and policies, promoting a dual transition combining green initiatives with energy security, developing autonomous supply chains, linking domestic and foreign-invested enterprises, increasing localization, and involving domestic enterprises in key national projects. The sector will also enhance trade remedy capacity, leverage free trade agreements, and accelerate administrative and public service reforms by simplifying procedures and lowering compliance costs.

Development solutions proposed include leading major policy improvements toward autonomy, modernization, green transition, and digital transformation, innovating legal frameworks to support development, mobilizing resources for infrastructure development, and strengthening domestic enterprises comprehensively. The Ministry emphasizes proactive, effective international economic integration linked to enhancing economic autonomy and sustainable growth. The sector commits to shifting from a management mindset to one of creation, supporting enterprises to turn challenges posed by greening and digitization into opportunities for national development.