On April 30, 2025, the Politburo of Vietnam issued Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW (the “Resolution”) setting out a comprehensive roadmap to develop and elevate the role of the private sector in Vietnam’s economy. The Resolution outlines a shift in mindset and policy direction, aimed at empowering private enterprises as a key engine of national growth.

Overview

The Resolution identifies the current state of Vietnamese private sector, which is dominantly comprised of household businesses, with less than a million registered enterprises. The Resolution further identifies several limitations, such as limited financial capacity, weak management capabilities, low technological competence, limited capacity for innovation, low labor productivity, operational efficiency, and competitiveness, and lack of long-term vision and connection with state-owned or foreign-invested enterprises.

The Resolution then sets out an ambitious reform agenda to address long-standing structural and institutional barriers that have constrained the private sector’s growth. The Resolution set out the objectives for the agenda in the following eight areas:

• Inspiring unity, confidence, and momentum for private sector growth;
• Reforming policies to protect private rights and business freedom;
• Ensuring private sector access to land, capital, and talent;
• Advancing tech, innovation, digital, green, and sustainable private business;
• Strengthening ties among private, state-owned, and FDI enterprises;
• Accelerating growth of medium, large, and global private enterprises;
• Providing meaningful support to micro, small, and household businesses; and
• Promoting ethics, responsibility, entrepreneurship, and national governance participation.

The level of detail provided for achieving each of the above objective varied, but the Resolution set out several concrete steps for the Politburo’s envisioned approach.

Key Policy Orientations

The tone throughout the Resolution signals not just reform, but a shift in mindset, specifically calling to eliminate the “what cannot be controlled must be banned” mentality. The Resolution emphasizes the importance of rapid, sustainable, and high-quality development of the private sector, with its role in driving growth, job creation, and national competitiveness of Vietnam. The focus of the Resolution is (i) creating a transparent and competitive business environment, (ii) providing incentives for private entities to grow and expand, (iii) guiding the economy to the digital and tech era and (iv) championing business ethics, social responsibility, and entrepreneurial spirit.

Strategic Measures

With the ambitious goals of having 2 million enterprises operating in the economy, contributing about 55-58% of GDP in 2030 and 3 million enterprises operating in the economy, contributing about 60% of GDP in 2045, the Politburo proposes strategic measures across the following key areas:

Administrative & Legal Reform

The Resolution emphasizes the need to cut red tape and smooth the process of doing business for the private sector. Specifically making reference to a shift from a “pre-check” to a “post-check” regulatory environment, the Resolution proposes several measures to create a more transparent and competitive business environment, encourage the establishment of more private enterprises, and clear current obstacles by:

• Cutting at least 30% of business conditions, compliance costs, and processing time by 2025;
• Shifting from pre-approval to post-audit mechanisms;
• Amending the Bankruptcy Law to simplify procedures;
• Prohibiting retroactive application of new and unfavorable policies;
• Ensuring only one annual inspection per enterprise and deploying digital inspection systems with electronic data, with exemption for well-compliant enterprises;
• Prioritizing the application of non-criminal sanctions over criminal sanctions whenever possible and if criminal sanction is necessary, prioritizing economic recovery as a key basis for subsequent actions; and
• Allowing reasonable use of necessary measures to ensure the value of assets related to a case, minimizing the impact of the investigation on production and business activities.

Incentives

To encourage the growth of a new generation of large and competitive private companies with regional and global reach, the Resolution focus on freeing up and diversifying capital, making land more accessible and improving the quality of the workforce for private entities by providing incentives in 4 major areas:

Tax & Financial

The Resolution introduces significant tax incentives for private enterprises, including:

• • Eliminating business license tax and providing 3-year Corporate Income Tax (“CIT”) exemption for SMEs;
  • Reducing tax rates, expanding the tax base, especially electronic tax collection generated from cash registers;
  • Allowing up to 200% deduction for research and development (“R&D”) expenses and permitting up to 20% of income allocation to R&D funds;
  • Exempting tax on income from transfer of capital in innovative startups; and
  • Encouraging credit institutions to lend based on production plans, cash flows, and future intangible assets.

Land & Infrastructure

Recognizing access to land as a major bottleneck, the Resolution mandates that at least 20 hectares (or 5% of developed land) in each industrial zone be reserved for SMEs and startups, paired with a 30% lease reduction for five years. By 2025, the national land database is to be completed to support electronic transactions and reduce administrative delays.

Public-Private Partnerships (“PPP”) & State Support

To further mobilize private investment, the Resolution expands PPP models across not only hard infrastructure but also social and cultural sectors. It calls for increased private participation in strategic national projects such as high-speed rail, energy, and digital infrastructure.

Talent & Facilities  

To build a stronger management class and upskill the workforce, the Resolution supports initiatives like training 10,000 CEOs, using large enterprises as anchors for tech transfer and mentoring, and offering free shared digital tools, legal advice, and training programs to household and small businesses.

Digital Economy & Future Tech

The Resolution placed a substantial emphasis on advances in technology and the digital economy. Specifically, the Resolution prioritizes enabling legal environments for emerging tech sectors. This includes new frameworks for fintech, blockchain, e-commerce, crypto assets, and the digital protection of industrial property rights. The push to allow enterprises to use public labs and national testing centers at cost reflects a practical step to lower R&D barriers and foster scalable innovation ecosystems.

Values & National Pride

The Resolution strongly promotes an ethical business culture grounded in Vietnamese identity and global standards. Businesses will be assessed not just on profits, but on compliance, employment creation, tax contributions, and social engagement. It further commits to banning bureaucratic harassment and misinformation that undermine trust in the business environment, and encourages entrepreneurship to be instilled early through integration into education curricula and national campaigns.

Implementation of the Resolution

The implementation of Resolution requires the participation of the authorities at every level. The Resolution tasks the Party Committee of the Government of Vietnam with:

• Directing the development and submission to the National Assembly for the issuance of special mechanisms and policies, especially during the 9th session of the 15th National Assembly (May 2025);
• Developing an action program to implement the Resaolution;
• Coordinating with the Party Committee of the National Assembly to promptly institutionalize the policies stated in the Resolution and allocate sufficient resources for the issuance and implementation of the National Assembly’s Resolution on private economic development during the 9th session of the 15th National Assembly with specific, feasible, and effective preferential mechanisms and policies; and
• Leading the preparation of documents for dissemination immediately after the National Assembly’s Resolution on special mechanisms and policies is issued.

Party committees at ministerial, local, and agency levels must also formulate specific roadmaps and assign clear responsibilities. Oversight and public communications will be managed jointly by the Central Propaganda and Mass Mobilization Commissions.

The Resolution represents a comprehensive and ambition effort by the Politburo to elevate Vietnam’s private sector for economic transformation. With clear targets, robust legal and financial reforms, and a strong emphasis on ethical entrepreneurship and digital transformation, it provides a clear indication that the Vietnam is poised to support businesses in the private sector. Its success will depend on coordinated, timely implementation across all levels of government, with the potential to reshape Vietnam’s economic landscape and advance long-term national development goals.

If you would like to explore how your business may benefit from these upcoming changes, please contact us