Four major bottlenecks need to be decisively addressed for the private sector to break through.

DNVN - The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) assesses that output markets, access to capital, informal costs, transparency, and policy forecasting are four bottlenecks that need to be decisively addressed to enable the private sector to break through in the coming period.

The Vietnam Private Sector Economic Report 2025 and the Provincial Competitiveness Index 2025 (PCI 2025), recently published by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), have clarified the picture of the private sector's resilience, confidence, and especially the bottlenecks that need to be addressed for this sector to continue to grow and develop sustainably.

With the participation of 3,546 domestic private enterprises, 586 foreign-invested enterprises, and 1,001 business households across all 34 provinces and cities, the report identified four major bottlenecks currently facing the private sector.

Firstly, there are difficulties in finding markets for their products. 60.2% of businesses are struggling to find customers, a sharp increase compared to 45.3% in 2024 and 41% in 2022.

This difficulty is present in almost all sectors, from manufacturing, construction, and trade to agriculture and fisheries.

"This shows that localities need solutions to open up markets, support businesses in finding customers, and effectively utilize free trade agreements (FTAs)," said Mr. Dau Anh Tuan, Deputy Secretary General of VCCI.

Secondly, access to capital. 75.5% of businesses reported being unable to obtain loans without collateral. The percentage of loans requiring collateral in Vietnam reached 93.5%, significantly higher than Malaysia (33.4%), Thailand (55.8%), and the global average (68.3%).

According to Mr. Tuan, although Resolution 68 has paved the way for many capital support mechanisms, solutions such as credit guarantee funds or cash flow-based lending have not yet been truly implemented in practice.

Mr. Dau Anh Tuan – Deputy Secretary General of VCCI.

Third, transparency and policy predictability. Only about 6-8% of businesses can regularly predict policy changes; 51.9% have to rely on social media to stay updated on draft documents.

"Therefore, it can be said that disseminating policies through traditional channels is not effective enough; localities need to utilize social media to better convey information to businesses," the Deputy Secretary General of VCCI stated.

Fourth, informal costs. 26% of businesses reported incurring informal costs when applying for business licenses, nearly three times higher than the regional average (9.5%).

The report also points out that the innovation capacity of Vietnamese businesses still lags significantly behind the region, with only 8.8% of businesses engaging in product or service innovation, lower than Malaysia (21.7%), Thailand (18.9%), and the East Asia-Pacific average (28.5%).

For the household business sector, as many as 81.5% reported a decline in revenue over the past year, highlighting the urgent need for a roadmap to transform and support sustainable development.

"The report provides a picture that highlights both the bright spots of development and the low points regarding the scale and competitiveness of Vietnamese businesses," Mr. Tuan said.

Therefore, VCCI recommends five main groups of solutions: opening up and expanding markets for businesses; improving access to capital and financial support policies; enhancing management capacity and innovation for businesses; further reducing administrative barriers and informal costs; and implementing specific policies to encourage household businesses to transform into enterprises.

Mr. Nguyen Duy Hung – a member of the Board of Directors of Tan Hiep Phat Group, a private enterprise with over 30 years of operation – believes that for the private economic sector to develop significantly, move faster, and go further, the inherent vitality of the businesses themselves is not enough.

"Businesses need stability, transparency, and fairness. They need their business rights and property rights to be protected. They need simplified administrative procedures and an effective policy enforcement system from the central to local levels," Mr. Hung expressed.

According to Mr. Hung, the world is changing very rapidly. Technology is changing, trends are changing, and competition is also changing. Geopolitical fluctuations are becoming increasingly complex. These changes create challenges, but at the same time, they open up opportunities for businesses to restructure, upgrade management, invest in technology, and participate in new fields.

Domestically, Vietnam still has many untapped resources. Many industries, localities, and sectors still have room for improvement and faster development. Vietnamese private enterprises are facing a very special opportunity and a unique moment.

"But opportunities don't wait for us, and opportunities don't automatically translate into results. If institutions aren't reformed, if the business environment isn't improved, if obstacles aren't removed in a timely manner, and if businesses don't innovate, then opportunities will slip away."

Reforms need to be implemented first and foremost at the grassroots level – where businesses interact with daily procedures. If the grassroots level implements them well, businesses will feel the effects very quickly. Conversely, if implementation is slow, policies and guidelines will be difficult to put into practice. All reforms are only truly meaningful when they produce concrete results for businesses and the people,” emphasized a member of the Board of Directors of Tan Hiep Phat Group.

Minh Thu

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/doanh-nghiep/can-khai-thong-quyet-liet-4-nut-that-lon-de-kinh-te-tu-nhan-but-pha/20260515121842782