(Mr): Phung Xuan Minh. [Chairman of the Board of Directors of PT Group & Saigon Ratings]
The state-owned economy, in the era of national development,is entering a new historical phase, with higher demands for efficiency, leadership capacity, and responsibility for the nation’s future. In the context of Vietnam’s goal of rapid and sustainable development, aiming for a prosperous and powerful nation, the state-owned economy is not only the sector holding crucial national resources, but also the material foundation for the State to guide, regulate, and ensure the major balances of the national economy.
In the new era, the role of the state economy needs to be viewed from a more modern perspective. It is not about subsidies or administrative intervention in the market, but rather about the capacity to create development, unlock resources, lead key industries, ensure economic security, energy security, financial security, and national sovereignty. The system of state-owned enterprises, state-owned credit institutions, public investment capital, public assets, strategic infrastructure, and state capital in enterprises need to be managed in a transparent, efficient, professional, and highly accountable manner.
The article“State-Owned Economy in the Era of National Resurgence”consists of three parts, focusing on analyzing the resources for business development in the state-owned economic sector, international experience in the management and development of state-owned enterprises; and clarifying the role of the state-owned economy in the process of achieving the national goal of prosperous and powerful development.
This is also a historically crucial and urgent task: to ensure that the state-owned economic sector truly becomes a strategic pillar for economic development in the era of national progress. This means that the state-owned economy should not overshadow the market, but rather perform the function of creating a strong driving force for the national economy; it should not replace the role of the private sector, but rather pave the way, lead, and create a synergy of immense internal strength to contribute to fulfilling the mission and goal of promoting the overall Vietnamese economy to develop more strongly, faster, and more efficiently in the new era.
Part One: OVERVIEW OF STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS
In the overall strategy for developing the State economy during the nation’s period of progress, the system of state-owned enterprises holds a particularly important position. This is the core force of the state economy, directly holding, managing, and operating many strategically important national resources in key economic sectors such as energy, finance and banking, telecommunications, infrastructure, logistics, oil and gas, mining, defense, security, and essential services serving the people’s lives.
If the state-owned economy serves as the fundamental resource base for the State to guide, regulate, and ensure the major balances of the economy, then state-owned enterprises are the direct instruments for implementation, transforming public resources into production capacity, investment capacity, market leadership capacity, and the capacity to ensure national economic security.
As Vietnam enters a new phase of development, the requirements for state-owned enterprises are not only to preserve capital, but also to improve the efficiency of exploiting and utilizing the nation’s important and inclusive economic resources, expand the space for economic growth, promote innovation, digital transformation, green transformation, and lead other economic sectors to develop together, with the ultimate goal of a prosperous and powerful nation that can stand shoulder to shoulder with the world’s leading powers.
1. THE ROLE OF STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES IN THE NATIONAL ECONOMY
State-owned enterprises (SOEs) continue to play a crucial role in key national economic sectors, significantly impacting macroeconomic stability and national development security. During periods of economic volatility, the SOE system often plays a leading role in stabilizing market supply and demand, ensuring the provision of essential goods and services, maintaining the smooth functioning of the economy, and supporting the implementation of national public policy objectives.
In the energy sector, state-owned enterprises such as Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) and Petrovietnam play a crucial role in ensuring the supply of electricity, petroleum, natural gas, and other essential energy sources for production, business, and social life. In the telecommunications, technology, and digital infrastructure sectors, economic groups like Viettel and VNPT play a vital role in developing information infrastructure, digital transformation, data security, and national technological capabilities. In the finance and banking sector, state-owned commercial banks and banks with dominant state capital are the main channels for channeling large-scale capital to the entire economy; especially for key economic sectors that need priority, such as agriculture, exports, manufacturing, transportation infrastructure, logistics, energy, and the green economy.
The role of state-owned enterprises in the era of national development therefore needs to be assessed and viewed in a more modern way. State-owned enterprises are not only production and business units, but also the leading force driving long-term investment in the national economy, creating a solid foundation for strategic economic sectors and fields; at the same time, paving the way for the private sector to participate more deeply in national and international supply chains. When effectively organized and managed, state-owned enterprises can become the “locomotive” creating a ripple effect for the entire economy.
2. ECONOMIC RESOURCES HELD BY STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES
One of the defining characteristics of the state-owned enterprise system is its control over vast national economic resources. State-owned enterprises hold strategically significant assets, capital, infrastructure, land, brands, personnel, and operational capabilities for the economy. According to published data, the state-owned enterprise sector manages assets worth approximately 4 trillion VND (equivalent to about 160 billion USD), with substantial state investment in these enterprises, while also providing employment for a significant number of workers in the economy.
The resources for business development of state-owned enterprises lie not only in financial capital. They also include the physical infrastructure system comprising power plants, transmission grids, seaports, airports, warehouses, pipelines, telecommunications networks, data centers, resource mines, national asset exploitation rights, land for production and business, and a team of engineers, experts, and experienced workers. These assets are of particular significance in the process of industrialization, modernization, and ensuring the nation’s economic self-reliance.
Furthermore, state-owned commercial banks also hold enormous financial resources. With total assets and outstanding loans accounting for a high proportion of the entire banking system, this sector has the ability to channel capital to key projects, major production sectors, and socio-economic development programs. This is a significant advantage of the state-owned economy in the era of national development, because if effectively coordinated, state financial resources can become “seed capital,” stimulating additional private capital, international capital, and social capital to strongly invest in priority sectors of the economy in each development period.
However, the large scale of economic resources also means a heavy responsibility for state-owned enterprises. The central issue is not just how much assets state-owned enterprises hold, but whether those assets are fully accounted for, efficiently and transparently utilized, and generate commensurate added value for the national economy.
3. ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE NATION
Firstly, in recent years, many state-owned enterprises have continued to make significant contributions to growth, budget revenue, macroeconomic stability, and ensuring major balances of the economy. Several state-owned economic groups and corporations have maintained large-scale revenue, profits, and budget contributions, including key pillar enterprises such as Petrovietnam, Viettel, EVN, state-owned commercial banks, and many enterprises operating in infrastructure investment and public utility services.
State-owned enterprises contribute in many ways. First and foremost, they contribute directly through revenue, profits, dividends, taxes, and other payments to the state budget. This is a crucial financial resource that the State can use to reinvest in various economic sectors such as infrastructure, education, healthcare, social welfare, national defense, security, and long-term economic development programs.
Secondly, state-owned enterprises contribute indirectly by ensuring market stability. In key economic sectors such as electricity, petroleum, telecommunications, finance, transportation, and food, state-owned enterprises play a role in maintaining supply chains, limiting disruptions, controlling major economic shocks, and supporting macroeconomic management. This value is not always fully reflected in the financial reports of state-owned enterprises, but it is of great significance to the stability, safety, and security of the national economy.
Thirdly, state-owned enterprises play a leading role in investment. State-owned enterprises often participate in the development of key national projects with large capital scales, long payback periods, and high risks, but which are fundamental to national development. Projects in electricity, oil and gas, digital infrastructure, seaports, logistics, defense industry, core technologies, and green transformation all require the active participation of state-owned enterprises to create an initial foundation, and then attract the private sector and international investors to participate.
Therefore, the operational efficiency of state-owned enterprises should not be judged solely by short-term profits, but should be viewed in the context of financial efficiency, social efficiency, strategic efficiency, and their spillover effects on the entire national economy.
4. PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS FACING STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES
Despite their important business achievements and contributions to the national economy, state-owned enterprises still face significant limitations that must be addressed.
First, capital and asset utilization in some enterprises remains inefficient and is not commensurate with the scale of resources under their management. Although many state-owned enterprises possess large assets and strong market advantages, their productivity, innovation capacity, competitiveness, and profitability remain limited.
Second, governance quality is uneven. Some enterprises continue to operate under bureaucratic management mechanisms, lengthy investment procedures, unclear accountability, and inadequate standards for internal control, risk management, and information disclosure. These weaknesses reduce operational flexibility, slow market responses, and lead to resource waste.
Third, many state-owned enterprises have yet to become genuine leaders in science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and green development. They must move beyond relying on existing advantages and create new competitive strengths through technology, data, productivity, and modern business models.
In addition, waste, financial losses, delayed projects, and underutilized assets remain major bottlenecks. Every inefficiently used state resource weakens the dynamism and competitiveness of the national economy.
In the era of national development, state-owned enterprises must therefore modernize their governance, separate state regulatory functions from capital ownership, strengthen transparency and accountability, and adopt international management standards. Performance should be assessed through both financial results and broader strategic contributions.
State-owned enterprises should be granted greater autonomy while bearing greater responsibility. They must proactively invest, cooperate with private and technology companies, participate in global value chains, and lead strategic sectors. Only through such reforms can they become an effective core force of the state economy and contribute to Vietnam’s rapid, sustainable, prosperous, and resilient development.
Part Two: Lessons Learned from Successful International Organizations and Recommendations for Management Reform
