From the experience of 40 years of renovation, it is necessary to fully recognize the core role of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the socialist-oriented market economy . Not only are they an important material force ensuring macroeconomic stability, SOEs are also a tool for regulating and guiding development, contributing to consolidating an independent and autonomous economy, maintaining a socialist orientation in the process of global integration.
Independent, autonomous economy and the pivotal role of state-owned enterprises
The current global and regional context is moving rapidly, complexly and unpredictably. Strategic competition between major countries, economic and trade conflicts, digital and green transformation, and non-traditional security issues are profoundly changing the global economic landscape.
In that flow, Vietnam must simultaneously face two trends: Association and division, both expanding cooperation and facing the risk of fragmentation and dependence.
Our Party has clearly identified: Maintaining independence and autonomy in planning development policies and strategies; developing strong Vietnamese enterprises to become the backbone of the economy; ensuring major balances, maintaining national economic security.
That is not only a theoretical requirement, but also a practical imperative in the context of deep integration and fierce competition today.
In the socialist-oriented market economy model, state-owned enterprises are an important material tool for the State to perform its role of regulating, stabilizing and leading the market.
A self-regulating market economy is not the optimal model; proactive and effective intervention by the State is a condition to overcome market defects, ensuring the goals of sustainable development and social equity.
SOEs, therefore, not only have an economic mission but also a special political and social function. In times of crisis such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the SOE sector has played the role of a “buffer zone”, sharing the budget burden, ensuring supply chains, stabilizing prices, maintaining essential production and performing public service tasks that the private sector cannot or does not want to do. This affirms the position of SOEs as the most loyal and effective force in protecting macroeconomic stability and social security.
Building an independent and self-reliant economy does not mean being closed or self-sufficient, but proactively integrating and taking advantage of external resources to strengthen national internal strength.
An independent and self-reliant economy must be highly competitive and resilient to global fluctuations. State-owned enterprises are the “stabilizing pillar” of that structure, the pioneering force in building a solid endogenous capacity for the Vietnamese economy.
In the process of restructuring the economy, it is necessary to place state-owned enterprises in the overall organic relationship between macroeconomic stability - economic restructuring - sustainable development.
These three factors must be operated synchronously, forming a "development triangle" to ensure the country maintains economic independence and autonomy, while at the same time integrating deeply and effectively into the international community.
Restructuring State-owned Enterprises - a strategic breakthrough for the new period
Entering a new development period, Vietnam aims to become a modern industrialized, upper-middle-income country by 2030 and a developed, high-income country by 2045.
To achieve that goal, the Draft Political Report of the 14th National Congress identifies the development of a synchronous and modern socialist-oriented market economy as one of the three major pillars of the development model.
In which, restructuring and developing state-owned enterprises is a key task, aiming to realize the leading role of the state economic sector.
Restructuring state-owned enterprises cannot be a “one-way street” that only leads to the State withdrawing or reducing the scale of investment, but needs to be flexible and selective, depending on the requirements of each stage. When the market experiences major fluctuations, the State can increase investment and hold controlling shares in some key areas to stabilize the economy; when conditions are favorable, it can divest capital to encourage competition and mobilize social resources.
International practice shows that many developed countries have flexibly applied this principle.
During the 2008 financial crisis, the United States temporarily nationalized several large companies, then divested them when the market stabilized and even made a profit.
That lesson affirms that the proactive and timely role of the State is a decisive factor in managing a modern economy. In Vietnam, the process of equitization and divestment of state capital has contributed significantly to promoting governance innovation and increasing transparency, but has also revealed limitations: Many state-owned enterprises after equitization have suffered from a decline in equity capital, lack of investment motivation, and have not yet promoted their leading role in strategic industries.
It is time to change the perception and management mechanism of state capital in the direction of considering it as a resource for development investment, not simply as “an asset that must be preserved”. The mindset of fear of mistakes and fear of responsibility has caused many effective investment opportunities to be missed.
At the same time, it is necessary to build a complete institutional framework for a socialist-oriented market economy, in which the role of state-owned enterprises is clearly and transparently defined, avoiding overlap between the state management function and the capital ownership function. The owner representative body must be empowered with sufficient power to make timely decisions and be responsible for the efficiency of capital use, while ensuring strict and public control of power.
Accepting the "life and death" of weak state-owned enterprises is an inevitable requirement of a market economy.
It is impossible to maintain loss-making businesses forever, which reduce investment efficiency and create a burden on the budget.
On the contrary, it is necessary to focus resources on potential SOEs that play a leading role in key areas such as energy, infrastructure, finance, foundational industries, innovation and national economic security.
At the macro level, SOEs need to be repositioned as “locomotives of technological innovation and digital transformation”. In the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, this sector must take the lead in investing in digital infrastructure, renewable energy, high technology, logistics and capital market development, creating a healthy competitive environment and supporting the private sector to develop together.
To promote the pivotal role of SOEs in the new period, the focus is on institutional innovation and operational mechanisms. First of all, it is necessary to continue to perfect the legal framework on state capital management, ensuring a clear separation between the State's management function and the role of investors and business owners, thereby enhancing the autonomy, responsibility and efficiency of each entity.
At the same time, the development of SOEs must be associated with the model of multi-ownership, multi-industry corporations, capable of competing regionally and internationally, capable of undertaking key areas, paving the way for other economic sectors to develop together. The performance of this sector cannot be measured solely by short-term financial indicators, but must be comprehensively assessed through the level of substantial contribution to growth, macroeconomic stability and social security.
In particular, in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, innovation must become an endogenous driving force of state-owned enterprises. Investment in science and technology, human resources and research and development is not only an economic task, but also a measure of national competitiveness, reflecting the strategic vision of an autonomous and integrated economy.
In general, restructuring SOEs is not simply a matter of rearranging production and business organizations, but a strategic breakthrough in creating an independent, self-reliant, modern and deeply integrated economy, as affirmed in the spirit of the Draft Political Report of the 14th National Congress.
Developing strong state-owned enterprises is not "conservative of the old model", but a step forward in national governance thinking in the new era - harmoniously combining the market and socialist orientation, between economic efficiency and political stability.
An independent and self-reliant economy can only be strong when there are state-owned enterprises capable of leading, competing and protecting national interests in the global market. That is also the consistent message, affirming the mettle and strategic vision of our Party in entering a new era of development - the era of autonomy, creativity and sustainable prosperity.
Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/gop-y-vao-du-thao-van-kien-dai-hoi-xiv-cua-dang-doanhi-nghiep-nha-nuoc-tru-cot-cua-nen-kinh-te-doc-lap-tu-chu-trong-thoi-ky-phat-trien-moi-720993.html
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