VietNamNet spoke with Dr. Tran Quang Thang, director of the HCMC Institute of Economics and Management, about setting priorities and mobilizing resources effectively to achieve rapid and sustainable development.

What do you see as the key solutions for achieving GDP growth of 10 percent or higher while keeping inflation at around 4.5 percent?

In my view, the most important priority is to continue improving the institutional framework. In 2027, we need to definitively resolve overlaps in regulations governing investment, land, planning, construction, housing, energy and the environment. We should make a decisive shift from pre-approval controls to post-inspection, ensure genuine decentralization and clearly define responsibilities. The goal is to turn thousands of projects stalled by administrative procedures into actual productive capacity.

The second solution is to strongly stimulate private investment and domestic consumption. It is necessary to reduce compliance costs, protect property rights and ensure contracts can be enforced, thereby enabling businesses to expand production. Policies to stimulate consumption should focus on raising incomes, creating jobs, developing social housing and ensuring social protection, rather than providing blanket subsidies.

We must also strengthen the economy’s supply capacity. This means ensuring adequate electricity, raw materials, technical workers, industrial land, logistics and data.

At the same time, we need to pursue targeted expansionary fiscal policy. Public investment should pave the way for private investment rather than crowd it out.

We must also focus on flexible monetary policy management instead of relying on cheap credit to achieve growth. Finally, we need to establish a mechanism for managing growth and inflation in real time.

What are the prerequisites for Vietnam to achieve both of these goals simultaneously?

The key prerequisite is to establish a sufficiently high growth trajectory this year without creating major imbalances in inflation, the exchange rate, bad debts or asset markets. 

Labor productivity must increase sharply through technology, better management, training and the movement of workers into higher-value-added sectors.

In addition, production capacity in electricity, infrastructure, logistics, housing and human resources must expand ahead of demand, thereby reducing costs. Public investment must stay on schedule while generating spillover benefits and attracting private capital, rather than merely increasing the amount of money flowing into the economy.

Fiscal and monetary policies must be closely coordinated. Fiscal policy should focus on expanding supply capacity, while monetary policy should preserve the value of the currency and control asset-related risks.

Among the public investment, private investment, domestic consumption and exports, which driving force do you believe has the greatest untapped potential?

I believe domestic private investment has the greatest remaining potential.

The non-state sector currently accounts for 53 percent of total investment of the society, but it remains constrained by administrative procedures, limited access to land and long-term capital, compliance costs, legal risks and unequal business opportunities.

Meanwhile, public investment is expanding rapidly and must retain its leading role. Exports have reached a substantial scale but remain heavily dependent on foreign-invested enterprises and external fluctuations. Domestic consumption provides an important pillar for the economy, but sustainable growth in consumption must be underpinned by jobs, incomes and public confidence.

We should make private investment the main engine of expansion, use public investment as seed capital, rely on consumption as a source of stability and treat exports as a channel for upgrading competitiveness.

We must also ensure a level playing field in access to resources. Financing channels for production and business activities need to be broadened. This includes developing bond and stock markets, investment funds, pension funds and credit guarantee mechanisms, while separating medium- and long-term financing needs from short-term bank credit.

The state must turn public investment into a foundation for returns that benefit society as a whole. It should select transport, logistics, electricity, digital infrastructure, urban development and social housing projects that can reduce business costs. It should also publish plans and project lists early so that private investors can prepare to invest in connected developments.

The state must create conditions for every citizen to become an economic actor. Possible measures include simplifying business registration, allowing household businesses to convert into enterprises on a voluntary basis, expanding access to digital, financial and vocational skills, and developing e-commerce, the creative economy, community-based tourism and urban services.

The greatest resource that can still be unlocked is the investment, business and creative potential of the private sector and more than 100 million Vietnamese people. The state’s role is to establish transparent rules, provide essential infrastructure and public services, address market failures and protect vulnerable groups. 

Ngan Anh - Phuoc Sang