(Mr): Phung Xuan Minh. [Chairman of the Board of Directors of PT Group & Saigon Ratings].
To realizethe new economic growth model in the era of national development, Vietnam needs to focus resources on areas with significant spillover effects, leading investment, increasing productivity, and expanding development space. In particular, transportation infrastructure, energy, financial markets, urban growth poles, and international financial centers play a crucial role.
These sectors not only directly generate growth, but also form the foundation for the development of modern industry, science and technology, innovation, and the digital economy.
1. Developing national transportation infrastructure, electricity supply, and financial markets.
Transportation infrastructure expands the space for development.
Transportation infrastructure provides both short-term growth impetus and enhances long-term competitiveness. Investment in construction boosts jobs, materials, machinery, transportation, and services; while a synchronized transportation system reduces logistics costs, shortens transit times, and strengthens regional connectivity.
Vietnam needs to prioritize strategically important projects such as the North-South Expressway, high-speed rail, urban rail, ring roads, gateway seaports, logistics centers, and international airports. These projects must be developed into a unified network, connecting production centers, industrial zones, urban areas, and consumer markets.
The North-South high-speed railway could form a modern transportation axis running throughout the country, while simultaneously promoting the railway industry, precision engineering, new materials, and the training of highly skilled technical personnel.
Long Thanh International Airport also holds strategic significance for the southern economic region. When effectively connected to Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, the highway system, and seaports, this airport could become an international aviation, logistics, and trade hub.
Investment efficiency can only be achieved when transportation methods are seamlessly integrated and closely linked to land use, urban planning, and industrial development.
Ensuring energy security is a priority.
Energy is fundamental to industrialization, digital transformation, and high growth. Semiconductor industries, data centers, electric vehicles, green industries, and high-tech manufacturing all require a stable, high-quality power supply.
Therefore, Vietnam must simultaneously ensure energy security, develop clean energy sources, and build a competitive and transparent energy market. The national power system needs to diversify supply sources, improve transmission capacity, and increase reserve capacity.
In addition to traditional power sources, it is necessary to promote wind power, solar power, gas power, energy storage, and low-emission power generation technologies. This transition must go hand in hand with the development of smart grids, reform of pricing mechanisms, and improved system dispatching efficiency.
Businesses also need to innovate technologically, reduce energy consumption, and increase the proportion of renewable energy used. This is both a solution to improve productivity and a condition for Vietnamese goods to meet the green standards of the international market.
Building a balanced and modern financial market.
The financial market is the capital infrastructure of the economy. To maintain high growth, Vietnam must mobilize medium and long-term capital for production, technological innovation, urban development, green transformation, and large-scale infrastructure projects.
Since the economy still relies heavily on bank credit, a more balanced development is needed between banks, the stock market, corporate bonds, insurance, and investment funds. The stock market must become a genuine channel for raising capital for businesses and the economy.
For the corporate bond market, the central task is to restore confidence through transparency, discipline, and accountability. Issuing companies must fully disclose their financial information, the purpose of capital use, and their ability to repay debt.
Credit ratings need to be expanded to help investors identify risk levels, determine appropriate interest rates, and improve market discipline. In addition, Vietnam needs to promote green finance, fintech, digital payments, and controlled pilot programs.
2. Leverage the leading role of major growth poles.
In the new growth model, major cities must become the driving force leading the surrounding regions. Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, Hai Phong, and Da Nang have different advantages but all hold important positions in the national growth network.
Hanoi needs to leverage its role as a center for politics, administration, education, research, and high-quality services. With its large system of universities, research institutes, and intellectual workforce, the capital city should prioritize the development of digital technology, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, cultural industries, finance, and modern urban transportation.
Ho Chi Minh City continues to be the largest economic, commercial, financial, and innovation center in the country. The city needs to shift strongly towards financial services, high technology, logistics, and the digital economy; while strengthening linkages with Dong Nai, Tay Ninh, the Southeast port system, and the Mekong Delta.
Dong Nai needs to leverage its advantages from industrial parks, expressways, and Long Thanh International Airport to develop high-tech industries, logistics, and airport cities.
Hai Phong continues to leverage its role as a gateway port, logistics center, and manufacturing hub for the North. Da Nang needs to focus on high-quality services, digital technology, logistics, semiconductors, tourism, and innovation.
Growth poles must strengthen linkages, share infrastructure, and divide functions, instead of engaging in widespread competition. When each locality leverages its strengths effectively, the ripple effect will expand throughout the region and the entire country.
3. Establish Vietnam’s International Financial Center in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.
Developing Vietnam into an international financial center with two hubs, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, is a crucial step in enhancing Vietnam’s position within the regional and global financial network.
Ho Chi Minh City could focus on capital markets, international banking, asset management, insurance, fintech, and green finance. Da Nang could specialize more in fintech, digital financial services, trade finance, logistics, and new pilot models.
The two locations need to complement each other, avoiding overlapping investments and aligning with the capital needs of the real economy.
The success of an international financial center depends not only on tax incentives or modern infrastructure. The decisive factors are a stable legal framework, a dispute resolution mechanism based on international standards, appropriate foreign exchange policies, secure data infrastructure, and a high-quality workforce in finance, law, and technology.
Along with openness, a robust supervisory mechanism must be maintained to prevent money laundering, market manipulation, and cross-border financial risks. Transparency, discipline, and risk management must become the foundation of a financial center.
Conclude
The pioneering key economic sectors are the material and financial pillars of the new economic growth model in the era of national development.
Transportation infrastructure expands development space; energy ensures the foundation for industrialization; the financial market mobilizes and allocates capital; growth poles create spillover effects; and the International Financial Center helps connect Vietnam with global capital flows.
When these sectors are developed in a coordinated manner, linked with institutional reforms, science and technology, and modern governance, Vietnam will be better positioned to exploit resources, increase productivity, and create high-quality growth drivers.
Saigon Ratings [09/07/2026]
