Vietnam

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.

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

During a recent working session leading up to the 14th Congress, Vietnamese delegates engaged in detailed discussions on draft policy documents shaping the country's future development. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highlighted lessons from the previous government term and stressed the importance of institutionalizing the Party’s resolutions to generate new growth drivers. He emphasized economic development as the central goal, with balanced focus on national defense, foreign affairs, security, culture, and social welfare. The Prime Minister pointed to a shift from reactive governance to agile, science-based policy implementation, citing Vietnam’s successful COVID-19 vaccine campaign and responses to global challenges as examples of this new approach. Looking ahead, he reaffirmed the ambition for double-digit economic growth by 2030, requiring bold reforms, strong project execution, and a dynamic mindset.

Deputy Prime Minister Mai Van Chinh underscored “self-reliance and resilience” as key principles underpinning Vietnam’s sustainable rise, aiming to reduce external dependency. He stressed that party documents must be concise, actionable, and clearly assign responsibilities, resources, and outcomes. National defense strategy should clarify allies and challenges while promoting dual-use defense industries to integrate economic and strategic interests. Delegates highlighted the need for concrete growth targets such as per capita income and the Human Development Index, and emphasized strengthening agriculture as a strategic sector with increased public investment to leverage private and foreign capital.

The focus on innovation, sustainability, and technology-driven growth was significant. Delegates from Ho Chi Minh City urged policies to elevate labor productivity, science and technology contributions, and green development. They highlighted Vietnam’s current overreliance on low-value manufacturing and called for digital economy strategies centered on AI, digital governance, and the digital society as new growth engines. Environmental concerns, especially water security and marine resource protection in the Mekong Delta, were also raised. Supporters of shifting towards knowledge-based, innovation-driven growth noted the intensifying global competition in technology and cyberspace and advocated for building strategic autonomy through knowledge power and coordinated diplomacy.

Central to the discussions was the role of the people as the foundation of Vietnam’s strength. Delegates called for clearer policy articulation on empowering citizens as agents of change and for detailed implementation plans to foster national unity and solidarity. Overall, the draft documents were seen as reflecting collective intelligence and will, providing a political foundation as Vietnam embarks on an era characterized by self-reliance, transformative growth, and national pride.

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.