Vietnam Private Sector Reforms Win Praise, Expert Urges Legal Parity

A year after the implementation of Resolution 68 on private economic development, Vietnam has achieved a stable start and powerful breakthroughs, but sustained growth will require deeper institutional reforms, according to a leading Chinese academic.

Professor Tao Yitao, director of the China Centre for Special Economic Zone Research, said the resolution’s most revolutionary aspect is its redefinition of the private sector from a supplementary component of the economy into a key driving force. In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, she outlined that the primary achievement in the first year has been institutional reform and the rebuilding of confidence.

The resolution facilitates state-backed credit policies for private enterprises, recasting them as drivers of endogenous growth rather than mere beneficiaries of preferential treatment. Tao noted that this fundamental shift in top-level policy design has significantly bolstered the confidence of both domestic and foreign investors in the stability of Vietnam’s economic system.

Market access is being further liberalised, she observed, with freer movement of production factors. The principle that all sectors are open to market entry unless explicitly prohibited is beginning to take hold in previously monopolistic areas such as energy and finance. According to Tao, invisible barriers are starting to crack and competitive neutrality is gradually becoming the norm, leading to an emerging trend of capital, technology, and talent flowing towards the private sector.

The business environment has also improved, the scholar said. The simplification of administrative procedures has lowered start-up costs for private enterprises, while sectors like the digital economy and cross-border e-commerce have shown notable innovative vitality. Furthermore, mechanisms for protecting property rights have been strengthened, with more effective administrative review processes and legal measures for resolving business-related property disputes, reinforcing confidence within the business community.

The financial environment has seen significant enhancements as well. Policy banks have redirected lending towards small- and micro-sized enterprises, and the expansion of the Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) and private capital markets has helped to ease funding shortages.

Tao described the first year of implementing Resolution 68 as a process of "exchanging time for space within the system." She argued its deeper significance lies in demonstrating that all economic reforms are ultimately contingent on political reform. The effectiveness of any resolution will be undermined by implementation shortcomings if public authority is not exercised in accordance with the law and if resources are not opened to the market, she warned.

Looking ahead, Tao suggested Vietnam’s next step should not be to issue more resolutions but to ensure fewer exceptions, uphold the universality of the law, and grant the private sector equal institutional status from the outset. She stressed that all economic actors should be treated fairly and given equal opportunities to develop from the moment they enter the market.

Professor Tao emphasised that Vietnam is at a critical juncture in pursuing what its leadership has termed a new era of national rise. In the long term, she concluded, the development of the private economic sector will depend not only on supportive policies but also on a stable, transparent institutional environment that guarantees fair competition. The exercise of public power within a legal framework and the allocation of resources primarily through market mechanisms are essential conditions for improving the sector's efficiency and advancing Vietnam’s socialist-oriented market economy.