Enhancing the capacity and leading role of state-owned enterprises

In the context of a larger economy and the strong rise of private corporations, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have no choice but to continue to improve their competitiveness and grow both in financial strength and business strength to maintain and assume their roles.

The leading and promoting role of state-owned enterprises in linkages is still weak.

At the Forum "State-owned enterprises: Improving competitiveness and leading role", held on November 20, 2025, Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy - Deputy Director, Department of State-owned Enterprise Development ( Ministry of Finance ) assessed that the role of State-owned enterprises in leading, creating motivation for enterprises of all economic sectors to develop and promote linkages, forming value-added chains is still limited.

Accordingly, only a few large corporations and groups operate in industries that have a decisive influence on improving the competitiveness of the economy , leading the process of economic restructuring such as core technology, digital technology, new energy industries, clean energy, renewable energy and industries containing scientific, technological and innovative values.

Most of the remaining SOEs operating in key and essential industries and sectors operate in a closed manner, carrying out almost all stages of the production and business process to form an internal closed production chain, not creating many conditions for other enterprises to participate in the production and consumption chain.

In addition, according to Ms. Thuy, SOEs also face difficult challenges, such as the lack of capital and asset resources of SOEs due to regulations on assignment and decentralization of investment decision-making authority that do not give autonomy to enterprises in major investment decisions and risky decisions. Failure to implement new investment projects leads to capacity and competitiveness not keeping up with the general development trend, and not being able to compete with enterprises in the same field in the region and internationally.

In addition, the initiative and competitiveness in production and business activities of state-owned enterprises are still limited; Operational efficiency is not commensurate with the resources held. Some enterprises are still in a state of prolonged losses, falling into a state of financial insecurity. The accumulated losses of state-owned enterprises in 2024, although lower than in 2023, are still large, and the handling method is not thorough and effective. In addition, some enterprises have not optimized capital efficiency, decided to invest when financial capacity does not meet requirements, mainly relying on loans.

Mr. Dang Huy Dong - former Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment , currently Chairman of the Institute of Planning and Development, said that with the larger scale of the economy and the strong rise of private corporations according to Resolution 68 of the Central Committee, SOEs have no other choice but to continue to improve their competitiveness, grow both in financial strength and business strength to maintain and assume the role and mission of being a regulatory tool, solving the shortcomings of the market economy and leading the way in technological breakthroughs, innovation (I&C), dual transformation (green and digital).

State-owned enterprises must operate according to market mechanisms.

In order for SOEs to rise up and affirm their competitiveness and leadership role, according to Mr. Dang Huy Dong, SOEs must operate according to market mechanisms, with economic efficiency as the main evaluation criterion; In the process of evaluating the investment and business efficiency of SOEs, it is necessary to separate the tasks of production and trading of normal goods and services of enterprises from the tasks of supplying public products and services controlled and regulated by the State.

Notably, Mr. Dong said that SOEs can strongly participate in industries and fields that directly affect people's lives, especially the field of residential real estate. Citing the experience of Singapore - an exemplary model in which the State manages and directly participates in planning and investing in housing construction for people, not allowing the private sector to manipulate this market, Mr. Dong proposed that SOEs should be assigned the task of housing development.

Accordingly, state-owned enterprises only need to play the role of "leader", hire design consultants, supervise construction and hire construction contractors to build civilized and modern residential areas (not social housing) to bring to the market at prices suitable to the affordability of the majority of people with jobs and stable incomes.

In addition, SOEs also need to orient investment, expand into new industries and fields that lead and orient the private economic sector to participate; provide goods and services to replace imported goods; expand exports that the domestic private economic sector does not want to do or does not have enough resources to do.

State-owned enterprises can also participate in investing in commercializing products that are the results of successful scientific and technological research and innovation, especially public service products, to soon promote their effectiveness in serving socio-economic development that the private sector cannot do effectively due to limited financial resources; Or new industries and fields such as AI technology, quantum, green technology, greenhouse gas emission reduction... that have the potential to create growth breakthroughs, shift economic structure, and change the growth model to soon achieve the 2030 and 2045 goals.

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/nang-cao-nang-luc-va-vai-tro-dan-dat-cua-doanh-nghiep-nha-nuoc.html