Vietnam’s newly appointed Minister of Finance, Ngo Van Tuan, is stepping into one of the most demanding roles in government, tasked with accelerating economic growth while safeguarding macroeconomic stability. Public investment and tax policy have been identified by experts as critical bottlenecks that must be addressed without delay.

On April 8, Ngo Van Tuan was approved by the National Assembly as Minister of Finance for the 2026-2031 term.

Speaking at the handover ceremony the same day, the new minister underscored that the country’s high growth targets in the coming years will place significant demands on the financial sector.

Taking the helm of the finance ministry, he faces a wide array of pressing issues. Among them, fiscal policy, public investment, and taxation stand out as core challenges with direct implications for macroeconomic stability and overall growth.

The priority is to accelerate the disbursement of public investment while ensuring efficiency and avoiding waste or fragmentation, thereby creating stronger momentum for economic expansion.

At the same time, tax policy reform must continue in a direction that both nurtures revenue sources and broadens the tax base, while supporting businesses and citizens. The goal is to foster a more enabling environment for production and business activities and to unlock the potential of the private sector.

Solving the public investment and tax puzzle

According to Can Van Luc, Chief Economist at BIDV, the 2026-2031 period will be pivotal for fiscal policy. Vietnam is pursuing high growth while also maintaining macroeconomic stability and key economic balances amid increasing global uncertainties.

Guided by the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress and Conclusion 18 from the second plenum of the Party Central Committee (April 2, 2026), fiscal policy must become more focused and targeted. This includes accelerating public investment disbursement while coordinating closely with monetary and other macroeconomic policies to support growth, control inflation, and ensure fast, inclusive, and sustainable development.

Luc emphasized that fiscal policy should play a leading role, as it still has room to maneuver, while monetary policy space remains limited, at least during 2026-2027.

On taxation, he stressed the importance of fairness, transparency, and flexibility. This includes targeted reductions in taxes and fees during difficult periods or in vulnerable sectors, such as VAT, personal and corporate income taxes, land rents, and environmental taxes. Such measures can stimulate demand while supporting key transitions in digitalization, green development, energy, and labor.

At the same time, tax collection should be strengthened in emerging sectors like e-commerce and digital assets, while nurturing revenue from household businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises. Effective implementation of revised tax laws and government resolutions will be essential.

Luc also pointed to the need for more substantive digital transformation in the tax sector. Despite progress, outcomes have yet to meet expectations set out in Party directives. Accelerating tax refund processes, particularly VAT refunds, and optimizing deposit requirements in certain industries such as paper, packaging, and beverages are also necessary steps.

Regarding public investment, Conclusion 18 clearly calls for faster disbursement while maintaining quality and reducing the incremental capital-output ratio (ICOR). The target, he noted, should be an ICOR of 4 to 4.5 during 2026-2031.

This requires the early development of a comprehensive framework to evaluate project effectiveness, along with a more focused investment strategy. The number of proposed projects should be reduced by around 30% compared to previous periods, based on clear criteria to minimize arbitrary decisions.

Efforts must also intensify to prevent waste and resolve stalled or delayed projects, thereby unlocking resources, creating jobs, and reinforcing investor and public confidence.

“Notably, public investment needs restructuring, as about 80% is currently concentrated in transport infrastructure, leaving essential sectors such as healthcare, education, culture, science and technology, digital transformation, green transition, energy, digital infrastructure, and climate resilience underfunded,” Luc said.

Bold reforms needed for a breakthrough

Le Ba Chi Nhan, an economic expert, stressed that in the pursuit of double-digit growth, public investment can no longer be treated as routine budget spending. Instead, it must serve as a strategic lever to drive aggregate demand and enhance overall supply capacity.

He proposed that the Ministry of Finance act decisively across three key pillars.

First, shift from a mindset of “managing expenditures” to “strategic management of public investment flows.” Capital should be allocated based on implementation capacity, with funds redirected within the year to projects demonstrating strong disbursement and progress, rather than waiting for end-of-cycle adjustments. This “funds follow results” mechanism would create positive pressure on ministries and local authorities.

Second, fully digitalize the disbursement and project monitoring process using real-time data platforms. From planning and payments to advances and final settlements, all information should be continuously updated. This would enable the ministry to identify and resolve bottlenecks, from land clearance and administrative procedures to project acceptance and payment. In doing so, the ministry would evolve from a passive “payer” into an active “conductor” of capital flows.

Third, link the accountability of leaders directly to disbursement performance, while channeling seed capital into sectors with strong spillover effects such as transport-logistics infrastructure, digital transformation, and energy. Each unit of public investment should not only generate short-term growth but also enhance long-term productivity and catalyze private investment.

On tax reform, Nhan proposed redesigning the entire tax process under the principle of “declare once, use multiple times,” enabled by deep data integration across e-invoices, customs, banking, social insurance, and business registration systems.

He also called for a transition to risk-based management powered by big data analytics. Routine inspections should be eliminated for compliant businesses, with enforcement focused only on cases showing abnormal signals. Procedures for tax refunds and exemptions should be standardized and simplified, with clear, automated timelines on digital systems.

The development of an electronic tax portal into an intelligent “digital assistant” is another priority, capable of reminding deadlines, flagging errors, and guiding taxpayers on obligations to ensure compliance from the outset.

Crucially, the entire tax handling process must be transparent, allowing businesses to track their applications in real time, understand their status, and identify responsible officials.

According to Nhan, if these measures are implemented decisively, tax reform will not only ensure sustainable revenue growth for the state budget but also build strong trust, reduce administrative burdens, and unlock private sector resources - the primary engine of economic growth.

Nguyen Le