Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Van Ba:

Greetings to our readers on VietnamNet, and welcome to our distinguished guests.

General Secretary To Lam has declared, 'Our nation is stepping into a new era, an era of national empowerment. The onset of this era began with the Party's 14th National Congress, marking the moment when the entire Vietnamese population, united under the Party’s leadership, will maximize favorable opportunities, combat challenges, and propel the nation toward robust, transformative growth.'

Following the spirit set by General Secretary To Lam, we are here today with a focus on how Vietnam can enter and thrive in this new era.

We are delighted to introduce Ms. Pham Chi Lan, former Secretary General and Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She is a member of the Prime Minister’s advisory group and the Business Law Implementation Task Force. With her extensive experience in policy advisory, especially in economic policy, Ms. Pham has made significant contributions in this field.

Also joining us is Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, former Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly’s Economic Committee. With nearly 40 years in the National Assembly spanning both legal and economic sectors, he contributed to drafting three Constitutions: 1980, 1992, and 2013.

We are also honored to welcome Mr. Truong Thanh Duc, Director of ANVI Law Firm and a member of the Business Law Implementation Task Force and the Vietnam International Arbitration Center. Mr. Duc has actively contributed to economic policy advisory and legislative reform.

Together, our guests have made substantial contributions to the evolution of our nation’s legal system and the institutional reforms of recent years.

To begin our roundtable, I would like to ask: General Secretary To Lam mentioned that 'the urgent realities of our nation call for pressing solutions.' Where do we start?

Ms. Pham Chi Lan: These times remind me of the early days of our Doi Moi (Renovation) era, when we faced severe challenges that demanded urgent solutions. Back then, our leaders adopted the mantra, 'Reform or perish.'

The drive for renovation began with a decisive choice to renew our thinking, particularly regarding institutions - a foundational step in Vietnam's transformation over the years that followed.

Today’s challenges, though different from those of 1986, are just as significant and call for fresh perspectives. We must renew our thinking to better understand our contemporary issues, including the impacts of global integration and the rapid advancements in technology that touch every facet of life.

To act, we must embrace a mindset shift and institutional change. This, I believe, is our starting point.

Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Van Ba: Thank you, Ms. Pham Chi Lan. Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, what are your thoughts on this need for institutional reform, especially given the emphasis that General Secretary To Lam has placed on it?

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc: Indeed, the Party and the State, most recently emphasized by General Secretary To Lam, have highlighted institutional reform, viewing institutions as the 'bottleneck of all bottlenecks.' The achievements, limitations, obstacles, difficulties, and failures we encounter all stem from institutional issues.

The issue of institutional reform is being raised with great frequency, from the highest levels of Party and State leadership to various sectors, levels of government, businesses, and the public.

Soon, relevant authorities will certainly engage with the business community and the public to address this issue. However, Ms. Chi Lan, when I posed the question to leading experts - both economic and legal - about their understanding of institutions, I received a range of responses.

Different concepts of institutions still exist globally. But if we are to identify institutions as the 'bottleneck of all bottlenecks' and see institutional reform as the first breakthrough requiring concrete solutions, we must first reach a basic consensus on what 'institutions' truly mean.

We need to agree fundamentally on this definition. Different understandings could lead to disparate directions in institutional reform, and that would be very risky.

I am pleased to see institutional reform being revitalized, stressed by the highest leaders in the Party, the State, and across sectors. From here, we will undoubtedly see decisive solutions to further reform and perfect our institutions, ensuring the success of other reforms and enabling development across multiple fields."

Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Van Ba: Mr. Truong Thanh Duc, you bring valuable insights from your extensive work with businesses and legal institutions. What are your reflections on Ms. Pham Chi Lan and Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc’s points?

Mr. Truong Thanh Duc: Yes, we are witnessing a truly significant historical moment, just as Ms. Phạm Chi Lan mentioned. Today, decades after our initial Renewal, it feels as though we are embarking on a new Renewal - one that builds on the foundation of the past, yet reaches higher and is more challenging.

First, we must acknowledge that while we made significant progress through Renewal, we have started to lag behind. Fortunately, we still have numerous opportunities and advantages, including three very practical, straightforward ones that are unique on the global stage.

These are Business, Consumption, and Integration - three advantages that other countries, at most, might only have one or two of simultaneously, but not all three.

Firstly, our entrepreneurs and citizens are willing to take on high levels of risk. They are ready to invest and do business boldly. This is an essential factor.

Secondly, our businesses and individuals have embraced global integration wholeheartedly, participating in numerous agreements and treaties, which have already been translated into real actions and tangible results.

We are prepared to engage in global supply and consumption chains, and we have leveraged the advantages of technology, artificial intelligence, and the benefits achieved from our initial Renewal. Other nations have pushed development and innovation even without such advantages.

Thirdly, Vietnamese consumers spend vigorously. You could say we have a strong consumer culture. The positive side of this is that Vietnamese people are eager to consume a wide array of goods and services, creating a highly attractive market of 100 million people with vast opportunities.

These are reasons to vigorously promote production and business. Of course, whether in production investment or consumer investment, it all depends on our institutional framework.

Institutions are decisive; they determine whether we advance or fall behind, and how far we can rise. Looking back 30 years, if we hadn’t embraced a market economy and global integration, we would still be poor and backward today, with no clear way forward.

If we keep moving forward at a gradual pace as before, growth will happen, but in a mediocre way. Failing to achieve better progress would mean failing our nation and history, given the current development opportunities.

Therefore, I believe we have a better chance for rapid development than ever before. If we do not seize this golden opportunity, if we do not change boldly, we will miss a once-in-a-millennium chance - to grow, to stand tall on the world stage alongside the global powers, and to enter a new era of national advancement."

Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Van Ba: Ms. Pham Chi Lan, the private sector is eager to propel the country forward. What unique strengths does Vietnam hold as it enters this new era?

Ms. Pham Chi Lan: Throughout my working life, and even more than 20 years after my official retirement, I have continued to engage with and observe the activities of Vietnamese businesses and the general economic activities of the people of Vietnam.

What brings me immense pride is witnessing the high entrepreneurial spirit and determination of the Vietnamese people. This is an invaluable trait, a unique quality of the Vietnamese, that shines so clearly in today’s era.

Looking back, during the subsidy period before the Đổi mới (Renewal) policy, we saw how economic suppression stifled entrepreneurial spirit, leaving the country in economic crisis.

After Đổi mới, the shift from a centrally planned economy under state control to a market economy, where the government empowered people with business rights and encouraged development by liberating all possible resources, led to rapid and remarkable outcomes.

I remember vividly that in 1986, Vietnam had to import half a million to a million tons of food each year. Yet, by 1988 - just over a year after the start of Đổi mới - Vietnam exported its first million tons of rice abroad.

In a short span, we moved from a severe food shortage to an agricultural surplus, exporting a million tons within just over a year. Suddenly, we were the world’s third-largest rice exporter. The transformation was so swift that it left international experts wondering how it was even possible.

This change was only achievable by unleashing the people’s potential - particularly the strength of farmers and those involved in agriculture who worked together to revive Vietnam’s agricultural sector almost overnight.

Another critical shift was in the mechanisms of resource allocation and domestic consumption. Instead of relying on a state-run trading system, the government allowed the market to handle distribution. This move immediately eliminated the need for the hoarding and rationing of rice during the subsidy period, creating an abundant supply in society and giving people access to fresh rice instead of the poor-quality rice they had before.

This entrepreneurial spirit, even among ordinary farmers, was crucial in achieving such outcomes.

Similarly, one of the primary goals of Đổi mới was to expand consumer goods. The lack of essential items like clothing and shoes was quickly addressed by Vietnamese enterprises that emerged to trade goods between the North and South.

Demand was quickly met by Vietnamese entrepreneurs, even before we could import much, and the beginnings of our export industry took shape with the first garment, footwear, and embroidery processing activities that later grew into exports worldwide.

The Vietnamese people’s energy and high entrepreneurial spirit are truly remarkable. When people are liberated and given the chance to work, they make things happen, even if raw materials are scarce.

This Vietnamese entrepreneurial spirit has continued and evolved, becoming a great strength today nearly 40 years after Đổi mới.

Today, I still see this as one of Vietnam’s most valuable potentials. Every nation considers its people as its number one resource, and Vietnam is no different. Especially in our current economic context, the transformative role of the Vietnamese people - with their strong entrepreneurial spirit, independence, self-reliance, thirst for knowledge, willingness to contribute, openness to change, and readiness to apply new innovations - is clear.

This unique quality among our people is proving to be Vietnam’s greatest strength, now and in the future.

Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Van Ba: Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc, lagging behind is considered a critical risk for the nation. In your view, has this issue been given the necessary focus, and what untapped potential does Vietnam possess?

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc: It is true that Party Congress resolutions and Central Committee documents emphasize the risk of falling behind. Alongside a focus on breakthroughs in infrastructure, institutions, human resources, and other key tasks, the Party and the State have embedded strategies to prevent and mitigate this risk.

However, we lack a dedicated program to combat stagnation - there is no specific committee for it, like we have for anti-corruption, waste, or other critical issues.

Currently, stagnation is a real and present concern, impacting all levels, sectors, and fields and intertwined with our development goals and strategy. We recognize stagnation as a significant threat.

We need to analyze and assess how we are lagging, both relative to ourselves and to the world. The Đổi mới (Renewal) movement initiated by the Party and State astonished and earned admiration from the international community. For example, Vietnam went from facing food shortages to becoming the world’s third-largest rice exporter and even playing a significant role in global food security. We achieved major reforms across agriculture and rice exports.

As I engage with technology firms and observe new development trends, I see that our young people are certainly not prepared to fall behind. VinFast, for example, has entered the global electric vehicle market, and tech products from our IT corporations are being exported worldwide. This indicates areas where we are keeping up and even leading.

Naturally, we still lag in many areas, particularly in services and products, which rank lower globally. For instance, the government is preparing to present a high-speed rail proposal to the National Assembly, with a projected speed of 350 km/h and significant investment. Our railway infrastructure, largely unchanged since the French installed 1-meter tracks, still relies on diesel engines while the rest of the world has long since moved to electrification. This is a clear example of falling behind.

Overall, in the 40 years since Đổi mới, Vietnam has made substantial development gains, ranking 40th globally in economic scale and 20th in export investment. But when comparing our pace and quality of development to that of the world, we are indeed lagging.

We have been running faster than before, yet the world started far ahead of us, so while we’ve developed, we are still playing catch-up.

I am fond of former General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng’s words: ‘Never before has our country had the stature, potential, position, and international prestige it enjoys today.’

Looking at this, we can celebrate that our GDP has multiplied almost 100 times since 1986.

Vietnam has the opportunities and potential to avoid or reduce the risk of falling behind. However, it must be said that we have missed many valuable opportunities.

We signed the Vietnam-U.S. Bilateral Trade Agreement, joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), which triggered a surge of foreign investment, and more recently, signed new trade agreements like the CPTPP and EVFTA. But have we fully capitalized on these opportunities? I would say not, and it is regrettable that many chances have slipped by.

Having participated in government negotiation delegations for the Vietnam-U.S. Trade Agreement and the WTO, I observed that we missed immense opportunities in terms of foreign investment, opportunities that could have significantly bolstered domestic businesses and developed supporting industries.

Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Van Ba: Mr. Truong Thanh Duc, considering international comparisons, how should Vietnam strive to keep pace with the world?

Mr. Truong Thanh Duc: As Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc said, we have missed many opportunities. We’ve treated side ingredients as the main dish, while the most important thing - understanding who we are and where we stand - has been neglected, and without this, success is impossible.

We began our Đổi mới (Renewal) nearly 40 years ago, but the real acceleration only started about 30 years ago. We’ve made remarkable, rapid progress, surpassing even our own expectations - almost like a dream, or even beyond that. People of Mr. Phuc’s and Ms. Chi Lan’s generation, and our generation here, have lived through two distinct eras, while younger generations under 40 haven’t had these experiences.

Accepting the market economy and global integration is essential, but if we only compare ourselves to our own past, it holds little meaning and risks becoming a lullaby of complacency, stagnation, and ultimately, falling behind. Falling behind is no longer just a risk - we are already behind.

As Mr. Phuc noted, we have indeed advanced in many areas, and in some cases, we are even on par with or ahead of the world. But overall, we still haven’t ‘crossed the halfway mark.’

We’ve followed the right path, seized opportunities, and had all the favorable conditions. But if we continue with the current pace, it will be like a caravan traveling on foot - sometimes speeding up a bit but ultimately moving too slowly, trailing behind the rest of the world.

Therefore, our challenge is to start running. There are areas where we must lead, which means adopting distinct approaches and solutions just to catch up - let alone to keep pace with others who started much earlier, have established high standards, and are advancing at an extraordinary rate.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phuc: When I visited France and the UK, it seemed they had already developed to a point where there wasn’t much more ‘development’ happening. The houses looked the same as they did 30 years ago, and the sidewalks hadn’t been dug up or replaced. So, have they actually progressed?

Ms. Pham Chi Lan: That’s what I call the 'wealth trap,' a concern even for countries like South Korea. To avoid this, South Korea has been pushing strongly for innovation, advancing in new technologies, and constantly moving forward. They fear that once a country reaches a certain level, it may become complacent, thinking it has already achieved enough, with no need to strive further. This is precisely how a nation can start to fall behind others.

Mr. Truong Thanh Duc: I completely agree. In many ways, being a developing nation gives us certain advantages. Poverty can, in fact, be an opportunity. We have reason to be hopeful because of the challenges we face. We have no choice but to innovate, to change, and to compete. When buildings last a century, as they do in developed countries, where is the room to introduce new technologies, to grow, and to advance?

To enter this new era, we need to recognize who we are. We must avoid resting on past achievements, avoid endlessly celebrating our progress, and avoid idealizing our past heroes. While it’s essential to acknowledge and assess past successes, we must do so in moderation. Let our achievements speak modestly and let our shortcomings be highlighted. Only in this way can we foster real change.

We have endured severe hardship and poverty under outdated, bureaucratic systems that stifled growth, restricted businesses and citizens, and imposed countless prohibitions and limitations.

But it was through institutional reform and openness that we transformed. As Ms. Pham Chi Lan noted, these changes allowed Vietnam to move from food shortages to become one of the world’s top rice exporters - a feat that won global admiration.

More recently, however, our economy has been facing constraints and limitations. It is regrettable that, without the momentum encouraged by General Secretary To Lam, we could risk even greater setbacks as the world continues to progress around us while we remain stagnant.

Everyday interactions with businesses and citizens reveal that, for each achievement, they’ve paid a price of frustration and, often, deeply unsettling challenges.

So, the key factor that will determine whether we advance rapidly or stagnate is our institutions. To keep pace with other nations, we need not only suitable and supportive institutions but also bold, breakthrough reforms that are tailored to Vietnam.

While we have made great strides over several decades, ongoing success requires not only a shift in thinking but also an elimination of legal and regulatory barriers, more broadly defined as institutional barriers.

General Secretary To Lam was absolutely correct in stating that institutions are the 'bottleneck of bottlenecks.' This is a bottleneck that the Party and the State, along with the National Assembly and the Government, must clear. Citizens cannot do this on their own. Businesses and citizens may innovate, compete, and develop skills, but it is the State that plays a crucial role by creating enabling conditions through institutional reform.

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