The Better Choice Awards 2026 Gala on October 4 presented awards across 45 categories grouped into four main pillars.

The ceremony was a key event held in response to Vietnam's National Innovation Day 2026. Now in its fourth season, the awards carried the theme "Innovation Beyond Borders," celebrating innovations that have blurred boundaries between countries, industries and conventional product categories.

The 2026 awards were completely restructured around four pillars: Innovative Choice Awards, Smart Choice Awards, Car Choice Awards and Nation Builders Awards.

Nation Builders Awards, introduced for the first time this year, honors companies contributing to national development by building infrastructure, energy systems and technological capabilities for the broader economy.

Results in each category were determined using scores from an appraisal council comprising multidisciplinary experts from Vietnam and abroad, combined with public votes cast through VCCorp's digital media platforms.

The weighting of the two scoring components varied by category. Council-selected honors under the Nation Builders Awards were determined entirely by the appraisal council, while the Vietnamese Pride honors were decided solely through public voting.

The nomination and voting portal was open from August 22 to September 20, 2026.

Nation Builders Awards was developed in the spirit of Resolution 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in science, technology and innovation development and Resolution 68-NQ/TW on private-sector economic development.

While the other award pillars recognize individual products, Nation Builders Awards honors companies responsible for major projects, value chains and technological capabilities of national significance.

The pillar operates through two independent tracks: a Council track assessed by the appraisal council and a Vietnamese Pride track determined by public voting.

Under the Council track, the honored companies were associated with major projects implemented during the year.

On January 16, 2026, Viettel Group broke ground on Vietnam's first semiconductor chip manufacturing plant at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park.

In June 2026, Viettel IDC's Hoa Lac 2 Data Center became the first digital infrastructure facility in the Asia-Pacific region to integrate the NVIDIA H200 supercomputer.

Petrovietnam's Nhon Trach 3 and 4 power plants, Vietnam's first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fired power project, officially began commercial operations on January 5, 2026.

Vinamilk marked its 50th anniversary and received the First-Class Independence Order, while TCBS became the first securities company in Vietnam to surpass VND100 trillion (about US$3.85 billion) in total assets.

The Council track also featured a dedicated category honoring foreign direct investment (FDI) companies that have integrated Vietnam's manufacturing and research capabilities into global value chains. Honorees included Samsung, LG, Intel, Amkor Technology and Qualcomm.

Pham Xuan Ha, head of the Better Choice Awards 2026 Organizing Committee, said: "The Better Choice Awards seeks choices that make everyday life better, rather than a single 'best' answer that works only on paper. In our fourth season, we have introduced the Nation Builders Awards because innovation in Vietnam has moved beyond individual products to become a capability of entire businesses and the economy."

Vo Xuan Hoai, deputy director of the National Innovation Center (NIC), said Vietnam's market of more than 100 million people provides an important foundation for nurturing innovative businesses capable of competing internationally.

"When businesses continuously innovate, consumers increasingly choose higher-quality, higher-value products, while research and technology resources are connected more effectively, a positive cycle emerges that can generate new growth drivers for the country," Hoai said.

"In this cycle, businesses are at the center, the State creates the enabling environment and policies, and organizations within the ecosystem play a role in connecting, promoting and bringing innovation resources closer to businesses and the market.

"This is also how innovation can gradually become an endogenous capability of the economy, making a practical contribution to rapid and sustainable growth and strengthening Vietnam's position in global value chains," he added.

Hoai also emphasized that the Better Choice Awards 2026 not only recognize products and companies that have created better choices today, but also encourage the business community to continue innovating, investing and pushing new boundaries.

Thai Khang