Many years after the 1999 Enterprise Law went into effect, a young lawyer sought out former Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Xuan Gia. When he learned that the former minister wanted to pay him for a legal service, he declined.

The reason was simple: without the 1999 Enterprise Law, which Gia had spearheaded in drafting, his law firm would not have been able to come into existence and flourish as it has today.  

That detail appears in the book Vietnam’s Private Economy – The Most Important Driver for a Prosperous Nation, co-edited by Professor Tran Van Tho, Pham Chi Lan, Vu Kim Hanh, and Dau Anh Tuan, with contributions from numerous experts, entrepreneurs, and researchers.

A book for the present and the future

The book was launched at a highly special milestone, as the year 2026 marks 50 years of national reunification and 40 years of Doi Moi (Renovation).

Following nearly four decades of reforms, Vietnam is steering toward becoming a developed, high-income nation, sustaining robust growth, and building an economy anchored in innovation. Within that context, the looming question is what will serve as the growth locomotive for the subsequent phase of development.

In a modern economy, that role could hardly belong to anyone else other than the private economic sector.

Today, the sector contributes roughly half of GDP, creates the majority of jobs in the economy, and provides livelihoods for tens of millions of workers. Vietnam has around one million enterprises and more than six million household businesses operating nationwide.

However, the scale and competitiveness of the sector remain below both its potential and the expectations placed upon it.

40 years to put the private economy in its rightful place

One of the book’s most notable essays is ‘Cai Cach The Che: Go Nut That Cho Kinh Te Tu Nhan Phat Trien Trong Ky Nguyen Vuon Minh’ (Institutional Reform: Removing Bottlenecks for Private-Sector Development in the Era of Rising Up) by Nguyen Dinh Cung.

Through this essay, readers can clearly trace the evolution of perceptions toward the private economy over nearly four decades. From being viewed as a sector requiring transformation under a centrally planned economy, the private sector gradually came to be recognized as an economic component, then as an important driver, and finally as one of the most important drivers of the national economy.

It required nearly 40 years of Doi Moi (renovation) for the sector that generates the bulk of employment and the vitality of the economy to be placed in its rightful position within development philosophy.

And that pathway was by no means a straight line. According to Cung, this was a journey of numerous twists and turns; there were phases where reform manifested vigorously, but also periods of stagnation or the emergence of fresh barriers.

That observation partly clarifies the reality that although Resolution 68 defined the private economy as one of the most critical driving forces of the economy, the vast majority of Vietnamese enterprises remain small and micro in scale, while many entrepreneurs still harbor greater anxieties over institutional risks than market risks.

If the private economy is truly the most crucial growth engine, what is required is not merely affirming this sector's role, but creating a matching institutional environment for it to thrive.

From 35 signatures to the freedom of business

If Cung’s article helps readers view the panoramic picture, the piece ‘Luat Doanh Nghiep 1999 – Dao Luat Tra Lai Quyen Kinh Doanh Cho Nguoi Dan’ (Enterprise Law 1999 – The Legislation Returning the Right to Do Business to the People) recounts the reform narrative from highly tangible experiences.

Through the journeys of successive Ministers of Planning and Investment, the article demonstrates that changes which many today take for granted were actually grueling reforms.

There was a period when wishing to establish an enterprise required traversing dozens of different agencies. In certain instances, a dossier had to pass through up to 35 signatures and 35 stamps before the enterprise was permitted to be born.

The inception of the Enterprise Law 1999 forged a historical turning point. The principle that citizens are permitted to do business in whatever the law does not prohibit was clearly established.

That was a transition from a mindset of control to a mindset of empowerment.

Tu Giang