As an especially important component of the socialist-oriented market economy, building a truly strong state sector capable of playing the leading, pioneering, and guiding role while supporting other economic sectors to develop carries decisive significance, contributing to the successful achievement of national goals by 2030 and the vision towards 2045.

Upgrading quality rather than expanding quantity

Associate Professor Dr Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Viet Nam Institute of Economics, noted that throughout different stages of development, the state sector has consistently been affirmed as playing the leading role in the economy. However, in Resolution 79-NQ/TW, for the first time, the scope, functions, and operating mechanisms of the constituent components of the state sector are clearly and specifically defined.

Accordingly, the state sector comprises nine main components: land and mineral resources; infrastructure works invested in and built by the state; the state budget; national reserves; off-budget state financial funds; state-owned enterprises; state-owned credit institutions; state capital in enterprises in which the state holds up to 50% of charter capital; and public service units. Clarifying the scope, functions, and operating mechanisms of these components opens opportunities to properly address the relationship between the state sector, state-owned enterprises, and private enterprises in line with market principles.

At the same time, the state’s role is prominently reflected not only in business operations but also in the management, allocation, and effective use of key resources such as the budget, land, natural resources, infrastructure, credit, and national reserves.

Professor Dr Tran Tho Dat, Chairman of the Scientific and Training Council of the National Economics University, emphasised that a key point of Resolution 79-NQ/TW is the requirement for a strong restructuring of the state sector, focusing on improving quality rather than expanding scale.

In the state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector, the resolution sets out specific tasks and solutions, including promoting investment; developing science and technology; fostering innovation; advancing digital and green transformation for efficient and sustainable business operations; enhancing the effectiveness of corporate governance systems; continuing the restructuring of state capital in enterprises; and reorganising and reforming SOEs. The goal is that by 2030, 50 SOEs will rank among the 500 largest enterprises in Southeast Asia, and between one and three SOEs will be among the 500 largest enterprises globally.

Viet Nam already has several large state corporations operating in key sectors such as telecommunications, energy, and finance-banking. In this context, the prompt institutionalisation and vigorous implementation of Resolution 79-NQ/TW will create impetus to form a number of SOEs with sufficient capacity and strength to compete internationally, measured not merely by absolute size but also by governance quality, innovation capability, international integration, and capital efficiency.

Notably, the resolution sets the target that 100% of state economic groups and general corporations will apply the governance principles of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. This represents a crucial policy foundation for modern internationally integrated governance, enabling SOEs to shift from “management” to market-based “corporate governance”, enhancing transparency, accountability, and adherence to international standards, and thereby strengthening confidence among society, the market and international partners.

The need for special mechanisms and policies

According to economic experts, a highlight of Resolution 79-NQ/TW is its clarification of the leading role of the state sector in key, essential, and strategic industries and fields, as well as its role in guiding and supporting other economic sectors to develop.

From this orientation, a crucial task in implementing Resolution 79-NQ/TW is to design special mechanisms and policies, along with concrete action programmes, to develop the state sector within a newly expanded space. This includes improving institutions on the state sector; continuing to enhance the business environment and management principles applicable to its components; removing bottlenecks in access to state resources; establishing incentive regimes to attract talent; and introducing mechanisms to protect officials who dare to think, act, take initiative, and assume responsibility for the common good.

Professor Dr Tran Tho Dat stated that Resolution 79-NQ/TW can be seen as a new institutional launchpad for the state sector to become a pioneering force that leads and shapes growth in the country’s new development phase. The greatest challenge in institutionalising the resolution lies in translating its reform spirit into sufficiently clear and robust legal provisions, while retaining flexibility in implementation and avoiding overly cautious policy design focused excessively on risk control.

The resolution underscores the need to establish mechanisms to protect officials who dare to think, dare to act in the public interest in cases without corruption or personal gain, and to set up independent, comprehensive, and transparent review processes to determine whether a case involves objective errors or legal violations, ensuring appropriate handling. This requires a genuine shift in governance mindset — from fear of making mistakes to proactive risk management.

From a practical perspective, Lawyer Nguyen Hong Chung, an investment policy expert and Vice Chairman of the Viet Nam Industrial Park Finance Association, stated that to implement Resolution 79-NQ/TW effectively and substantively, it is necessary to focus on foundational solution groups. These include unifying criteria for identifying key, essential and strategic sectors of the state economy, and reviewing the list of enterprises in which the State holds capital based on those criteria.

For state-owned enterprises, it is essential to standardise KPI systems and corporate disclosure mechanisms. At the same time, data on state assets, land, and state investment capital must be cleaned and synchronised, and prolonged loss-making and inefficient projects must be decisively addressed in order to restore market confidence.

When these solutions are implemented effectively, they will help the economy allocate resources more efficiently, strengthen market confidence, and encourage the private sector to develop, thereby contributing significantly to the goal of building an independent, self-reliant, fast, and sustainable Vietnamese economy.