The year 2026 marks the launch of the National Industrial Promotion Programme for the 2026–2030 period, under Decision No. 2646/QD-BCT issued by the Minister of Industry and Trade. The programme is also being implemented within the framework of the new legal provisions set out in the Government’s Decree No. 235/2025/ND-CP.

Lack of linkage models

According to the Industry Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the northern region now comprises 15 provinces and cities following the administrative reorganisation. The expansion of development space and concentration of resources are expected to promote the formation of large-scale production value chains, strengthen regional linkages, and maximise the impact of industrial promotion funding.

In the first nine months of 2026, more than 10 billion VND from industrial promotion funds was disbursed to support 57 rural industrial establishments to invest in modern machinery. As a result, these establishments have gradually automated their production processes, improved product quality, and made more efficient use of raw materials and energy. Under the 2026 plan, the northern region is also expected to assist 75 rural industrial facilities in setting up approximately 426 standard booths at domestic trade fairs, and 50 establishments in occupying 50 booths at overseas exhibitions.

In its assessment of the shortcomings, the Industry Agency pointed out that implementation and disbursement had been slow in some areas. The quality of surveys and the formulation of plans and projects also varied between localities, while large-scale flagship models capable of generating breakthroughs and leveraging regional strengths remained scarce.

In practice, the rearrangement of administrative units and the organisation of the two-tier local government system have caused certain disruptions, affecting work schedules. For example, the 14 industrial promotion public service centres in the northern region currently have a workforce of 499 officials, public servants, and employees, down 72 from 2025. Of these, only 73 are directly involved in implementing sector tasks and projects.

Similarly, in the central and Central Highlands regions, industrial promotion policies have played an effective role in supporting businesses and rural industrial establishments modernise equipment, master technologies, improve productivity, and enhance product competitiveness. However, progress on many activities has fallen short of requirements.

Notably, industrial promotion activities in recent years have mainly been carried out on an individual basis, with few collaborative models based on value chains or sectoral and inter-regional linkages. This has hindered their formation and efforts to secure sustainable markets for rural industrial products.

Building value chains

In the final months of 2026, industrial promotion activities will focus on completing 100% of the assigned national and local projects, while enhancing the quality of flagship and group initiatives.

The Industry Agency has recommended that localities closely follow Decree No. 45/2012/ND-CP, Decree No. 235/2025/ND-CP, and the National Industrial Promotion Programme for the 2026–2030 period to ensure that activities are implemented for the right beneficiaries, in line with the prescribed content, and within the set timeframe.

A key task is to accelerate the implementation of national industrial promotion projects for which funding has already been allocated, ensuring compliance with regulations and strengthening supervision. At the same time, industrial promotion needs to shift decisively from providing support to individual establishments towards encouraging chains and sectoral linkages, with a view to building substantive value chains for rural industry. Priority should be given to projects that establish integrated value-chain linkages, connecting multiple establishments and businesses across the entire process, from raw materials and production to processing and consumption. These efforts should also be aligned with digital transformation, energy savings, effective resource use, and emissions reduction.

In terms of resources, local Departments of Industry and Trade should proactively advise provincial People's Committees to prioritise counterpart funding from provincial budgets, ensuring a balanced flow of capital between the central and local governments. They should also integrate industrial promotion activities with target programmes to attract social investment, particularly from businesses themselves.

Meanwhile, as the administrative apparatus has only recently completed its reorganisation, an urgent priority is to consolidate its structure, standardise qualifications, and strengthen the capacity of grassroots industrial promotion officials.

Highlighting the direction for the coming period, Head of the Industry Agency Tran Viet Hoa affirmed that industrial promotion resources must be allocated to the right priorities to guide investment flows, expand production scale, and bolster the competitiveness of rural industrial establishments.

The core principle is to make a decisive shift from the mindset of “allocating resources for support” to that of “building growth capacity.” Under this approach, the state budget will serve as seed capital to attract further investment, technology and productivity will be the key drivers, and businesses and rural industrial establishments will act as the central players.

With the issuance of Decree No. 235/2025/ND-CP, which amends and supplements a number of provisions of the Government’s Decree No. 45/2012/ND-CP on industrial promotion, targets relating to sustainable production and consumption, as well as digital transformation, have for the first time been formally institutionalised within the sector’s legal framework.

Commenting on the impact of the new policy, environment, social, and governance (ESG) expert Tran Xuan Quynh identified three key challenges currently facing rural industrial establishments in their efforts to implement ESG practices and pursue green development. These are limited access to funding for emissions-reducing technologies, insufficient capacity in data management, and a shortage of highly skilled technical personnel.

Decree No. 235/2025/ND-CP introduces comprehensive support packages, ranging from investment in infrastructure and environmental treatment systems, and the promotion of digital transformation to ensure supply chain transparency, to budget allocations for workforce training linked to the transfer of new technologies.