Experts and business leaders discuss capital markets, strategic investment and Vietnam’s path toward an international financial center at CRIF Forum Vietnam 2026

Data Transparency Becomes a Competitive Capability

At CRIF Forum Vietnam 2026, recently held in Hanoi, Nguyen Minh Tu, General Director of CRIF D&B Vietnam Co., Ltd., said that as the economy becomes more developed and complex, information quality will increasingly determine the quality of decisions made by businesses, financial institutions and investors. Reliable data helps assess risks, identify opportunities and build trust, thereby supporting capital flows and giving businesses greater confidence when participating in domestic and international markets.

Nguyen Xuan Tho, Deputy Director General of the Agency for Private Enterprise and Collective Economy Development (APED), Ministry of Finance, also said that reliable data is becoming an important measure of a business’s credibility in the digital economy, directly affecting its ability to access capital, expand markets and participate more deeply in value chains.

Data is becoming increasingly central to decisions about capital, partners and markets. Complete and transparent information about businesses, suppliers and commercial relationships gives financial institutions a stronger basis for allocating capital, while helping businesses build credibility and strengthen relationships with domestic and international customers and partners.

This requirement becomes even more apparent as Vietnamese businesses participate more deeply in global supply chains. Strengthening linkages between foreign-invested enterprises and domestic businesses requires Vietnamese businesses not only to have production capabilities but also to demonstrate their credibility, capabilities and ability to meet the requirements of banks, investors, customers and international partners.

For manufacturing and export businesses, requirements for transparency regarding suppliers, partners, the origins of goods and risks throughout the value chain are increasingly linked to their ability to access markets and capital and attract investment. Transparency is therefore no longer simply a compliance requirement but is increasingly becoming part of competitiveness.

Requirements for data quality are also becoming more apparent as businesses adopt artificial intelligence (AI). As businesses and organizations increase their use of AI in operations and decision-making, the quality of underlying data becomes increasingly important. Faster decisions do not necessarily mean better decisions if input data is incomplete, inaccurate or poorly managed. High-quality data, appropriate governance mechanisms, transparency and human oversight are essential for responsible AI adoption.

From Business Data to Resource Access

A specific area of cooperation is reflected in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CRIF D&B Vietnam and the Center for Business, Household Business and Collective Economy Information under APED, aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)in strengthening digital transformation, green transformation, ESG transparency and access to green finance.

The focus is on connecting the Transformation Maturity Assessment (TMA) toolkit with CRIF’s Synesgy platform, helping businesses make use of existing data and reduce reporting requirements.

According to Nguyen Minh Tu, Vietnamese SMEs are increasingly required by customers and banks to demonstrate their ESG capabilities, while their data remains fragmented and poorly organized, with limited transparency and reliability. Connecting TMA with Synesgy aims to establish a systematically collected and stored data source that meets standards and supports businesses in demonstrating their ESG capabilities.

Le Van Khuong, Director of the Business Registration Support Center under APED, said cooperation should focus on making the dual transformation substantive and creating practical value for businesses rather than simply meeting reporting requirements.

Cooperation with CRIF D&B Vietnam enables businesses that have completed the Dual Transformation Readiness Assessment to transfer the results to an internationally standardized ESG Certification, better preparing them to access international markets and work with domestic and foreign banks and credit institutions to access green finance.

Another component of the MoU is research into the Enterprise Data Passport model, based on Vietnam’s practical conditions and combined with the D-U-N-S® Number and other international business identification standards, as well as data requirements related to exports, taxation and access to global markets.

As banks, investors, customers and international partners increasingly require verifiable information, the ability to manage and transparently share data is becoming an important condition for businesses to build credibility, access resources and expand business relationships.

For Vietnam, the requirement is not only to continue attracting investment and expanding production, but also to strengthen the capabilities of domestic businesses so they can create greater value within supply chains. A transparent and reliable data ecosystem will help the private sector strengthen competitiveness, gain better access to resources and move deeper into global value chains.