The 15th National Assembly approved the Resolution on the Economic Restructuring Plan for the 2021-2025 period, which set ambitious goals. Among them are 1.5 million enterprises by 2025, including having 60,000-70,000 medium and large-sized enterprises, and raising the private sector's contribution to the national GDP to about 55%.

Currently, Vietnam has about 800,000 active enterprises, including about 21,000 large and medium-sized ones, and the private sector contributes 42-43% of the GDP. Vietnam failed to achieve the target of having 1 million enterprises and the private sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP of 49% by 2020.

Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung said that in order to achieve the goal of becoming a developed country by 2045, Vietnam must rely on the private economy. Vietnam has only 10 years left to fulfil this goal, because by 2030 it will enter the period of an aging population. Many policies to develop the private economy have been issued but they are not very effective.

According to a survey by Herbalife Nutrition in 2021 about startup trends among people aged 18 to 40 in Vietnam, 71% of respondents said they wanted to become entrepreneurs. The top reasons for this aspiration were to follow their passion (61%) and become their own boss (56%). Up to 66% of respondents were optimistic that youth would help them have more chances to succeed in business. The respondents listed reasons that will help them succeed, including: better adaptation to new technology (68%); better absorbtion and grasping of new technology (63%); and new ideas (56%).

Mr. To Hoai Nam, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, said the goal of having 1.5 million enterprises by 2025 is not very ambitious. This goal also shows the determination of the Government in developing Vietnam’s enterprises, especially large-scale ones with capital of over 1 billion USD.

Globally, strong economies all rely on the leading role of large-scale private enterprises. South Korea, from a poor, backward country, has transformed thanks to large private corporations. Big names such as Samsung, Hyundai, Posco, LG, and SK have led the Korean economy to development over the past 30 years.

In the US, the 500 largest companies have total revenue of about 13 trillion USD/year, accounting for more than two-thirds of the country's GDP. In Japan, big corporations such as Toyota, Mitsubishi, Panasonic have made great contributions to the country over the past 50 years and have influence on the global economy.

Vietnamese go to Singapore for startups

Many Vietnamese have chosen Singapore to establish their start-up companies. This is a warning for Vietnam about the startup environment.

To achieve the goal of having an additional 700,000 businesses in the next four years, the most important thing is to create a good business environment. Accordingly, it is necessary to remove barriers of administrative procedures in the relationship between state agencies and enterprises, and reduce compliance costs of enterprises in business investment activities.

It is possible to reach the targeted number of new businesses. But creating many large private corporations that can compete globally is difficult.

Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Head of the Legal Department of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) l, said that it is necessary to strongly reduce the "matrix" of the legal system and cumbersome procedures.

Mr. Vu Tien Loc, a member of the National Assembly Economic Committee, and Chairman of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC), said the Vietnamese economy has grown for years but there are only 800,000 active enterprises, which contribute only 10% to the country’s GDP.

Vietnam has about 5 million individual business households, contributing about 30% of annual GDP. Mr. Loc proposed a breakthrough on the law on enterprises to transform business households into enterprises.

Tran Thuy

Famous Vietnamese businesspeople born in the Year of the Tiger

Famous businesspeople Doan Nguyen Duc, Do Quang Hien, Nguyen Duc Huong and Huynh Bich Ngoc were all born in 1962, the Year of the Tiger.

Second-generation businesspeople steering multi-million dollar businesses

Many young entrepreneurs are managing assets worth billions of dollars, taking daring steps and gaining outstanding achievements.