Resolution 79-NQ/TW:

Resolution 79-NQ/TW dated January 6, 2026, of the Politburo on the development of the state-owned economy marks a significant shift in the understanding of the role of the state-owned economy, repositioning this sector to focus on key areas, playing a constructive, leading, and pioneering role for development.

With its ambitious goals and comprehensive solutions, the Resolution is expected to remove long-standing bottlenecks, thereby enhancing the efficiency and competitiveness of state-owned enterprises.

State-owned enterprises play a leading role in the fields of smart urban infrastructure and public transportation. Photo: Pham Hung

A significant role, but still facing many bottlenecks.

Prior to 1986, the Vietnamese economy operated under a centrally planned model, in which the State managed all production and distribution activities. The state-owned economic sector played an absolute dominant role, with state-owned enterprises being the main productive force, controlling key industries and most of the means of production.

This model was once effective in mobilizing resources for the resistance war and economic development. However, the subsidy mechanism revealed many limitations, leading to inefficient state-owned enterprises, a lack of competitiveness, and production failing to meet market demands, contributing to the stagnation and socio-economic crisis of the 1980s.

Since 1986, Vietnam has transitioned to a socialist-oriented market economy. In this context, the state-owned economy continues to play a dominant role, but it is no longer a monopoly; instead, it coexists with other economic sectors. State-owned enterprises have been restructured and reformed through privatization to improve operational efficiency, increase transparency, and enhance governance.

To date, many large-scale state-owned enterprises have been established in key sectors such as energy, telecommunications, aviation, and finance-banking, making significant contributions to macroeconomic stability. However, the state-owned enterprise sector still faces many obstacles. The legal system is still overlapping and does not clearly separate the functions of management and capital representation; investment procedures are lengthy, reducing business opportunities. Corporate governance is still limited, lacking transparency, and the appointment mechanism is not linked to performance.

Capital utilization efficiency is low, investments are scattered, and some projects suffer prolonged losses. Simultaneously, the dual role of conducting business and fulfilling socio-political responsibilities leads to a dispersion of resources. Innovation capacity, particularly in digital transformation, remains slow. Notably, privatization and restructuring are still slow due to obstacles related to valuation, land issues, and the high proportion of state capital, which reduces the effectiveness of reforms.

The aforementioned bottlenecks stem from the fact that the state-owned economic sector was previously assigned too many tasks but lacked appropriate management mechanisms and implementation tools.

In this context, along with Resolution 68-NQ/TW identifying the private economy as an important driving force, Resolution 79-NQ/TW further affirms that "the state economy plays a leading role in the socialist-oriented market economy, is equal before the law with other economic sectors, pioneers in creating development, leads, paves the way, and promotes industrialization and modernization."

The core innovation of Resolution 79 is the shift from a scattered approach to a focus on key, essential sectors – where the state sector has advantages and needs to play a leading role. This is considered a crucial adjustment to overcome the previous situation of fragmented and inefficient investment.

However, a change in mindset alone is not enough to create substantive change. Resolution 79 is expected to create a breakthrough in the development of the state-owned economy because of the combination of innovative thinking with the establishment of goals and the proposal of appropriate implementation solutions to remove bottlenecks.

Resolution 79 sets very high targets, such as having 50 state-owned enterprises in the top 500 in Southeast Asia by 2030 (including 1-3 state-owned enterprises in the top 500 in the world ), and 3 state-owned commercial banks in the top 100 in Asia. These ambitious goals, along with targets for business efficiency and budget contributions, create significant pressure for strong reforms, forcing relevant stakeholders to act decisively and compelling state-owned enterprises to improve their efficiency and competitiveness.

Ambitious goals are only truly effective when accompanied by feasible implementation mechanisms. Resolution 79 correctly identified the bottlenecks in the state-owned enterprise sector (from inefficient governance and lack of transparency to the failure to separate management and ownership functions), and subsequently proposed effective solutions. These include improving governance institutions, enhancing financial transparency, increasing accountability, and decisively addressing underperforming enterprises.

This practical and feasible system of solutions, if implemented effectively, will help the state-owned economy overcome long-standing bottlenecks, creating a foundation for breakthrough and sustainable development.

Leveraging the resources of Hanoi's businesses.

Hanoi currently has approximately 370 state-owned enterprises, operating primarily in the fields of public services, urban development, trade, finance, and telecommunications. Although these only account for about 0.2% of the total number of enterprises in the city, this sector holds a significant amount of important resources, from land and infrastructure to capital. However, the efficiency of utilizing state capital and assets remains low, not commensurate with its potential.

In reality, the biggest bottleneck for Hanoi's state-owned enterprises lies not in resources, but in appropriate management and operational mechanisms, such as a lack of competitive pressure due to the absence of independent shareholder pressure, profits not being linked to income, and losses being handled through bureaucratic mechanisms. Meanwhile, decision-making processes remain heavily bureaucratic, involving multiple layers, reducing flexibility and the ability to respond to market changes.

Furthermore, the personnel appointment mechanism is not truly based on competence, making it difficult to attract high-quality leaders. The privatization process remains largely superficial, with the State still holding a controlling role, while the governance model has not changed significantly, leading to a lack of noticeable improvement in operational efficiency.

Another drawback is that state-owned enterprises perform both business and socio-political tasks such as price stabilization and public service provision. However, due to the lack of clear financial separation and compensation mechanisms, the true effectiveness cannot be measured. At the same time, Hanoi's unique advantages, such as its large market size, high-quality human resources, and specific policy mechanisms, have not been effectively exploited.

In this context, leveraging the new mechanisms from Resolution 79 on state-owned economic development and the 2024 Capital City Law is seen as an opportunity for Hanoi to implement groundbreaking reforms. The focus is on empowering the board of directors in investment, personnel, and salary decisions, accompanied by clear performance-based evaluation and dismissal mechanisms.

Simultaneously, it is necessary to promote the equitization and divestment of state-owned enterprises in a substantive manner, especially in non-essential sectors, in order to attract private investors and improve the efficiency of capital utilization. Modern governance reforms, financial transparency, enhanced independent auditing, and the separation of state management functions from corporate governance are also urgent requirements.

Notably, separating public service tasks from profit-making objectives will help increase transparency in financial operations, thereby accurately assessing business performance. Along with this, market-based salary mechanisms, hiring professional managers, and promoting comprehensive digital transformation will enhance operational capabilities.

In the long term, state-owned enterprises need to focus on leading roles in several strategic areas such as smart urban infrastructure, public transport, environment, and urban data. At the same time, Hanoi can leverage its position as a policy testing center to implement sandbox models, fostering linkages between state-owned enterprises and the private sector and the startup ecosystem.

These solutions, if implemented comprehensively, will not only remove existing bottlenecks but also create momentum for Hanoi's state-owned enterprise sector to effectively utilize its resources and make a more significant contribution to the sustainable growth and development of the capital city.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/nghi-quyet-79-nq-tw-thay-doi-can-ban-tu-duy-ve-vai-role-of-state-economics-744466.html