Vietnam’s Communist Party chief To Lam has set an ambitious economic agenda for the country, targeting annual GDP growth exceeding 10 percent through 2030. Alongside sweeping anti-corruption pledges and aggressive administrative reform — including abolishing eight ministries and slashing 150,000 state jobs — Lam is positioning Vietnam for accelerated development and deeper global trade integration.

One of the key pillars of Lam’s economic development strategy is fostering “national champions,” globally competitive private conglomerates in advanced industries. Resolution 68, adopted by Vietnam’s Politburo in May 2025, represents a cornerstone of Lam’s economic modernization agenda. It explicitly elevates the private sector to the “most important force” in the economy and sets a concrete target of developing at least 20 national champions by 2030.

The national champions concept is Vietnam’s attempt to replicate the chaebol model that drove South Korea’s industrialization: large, well-capitalized private firms with state backing, preferential access to credit and land, priority in public procurement, and support for international expansion through a dedicated “Go Global” program. Nhan Dan, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Vietnam, notes that firms Samsung and Hyundai shifted an entire economy from agriculture to advanced industry within decades by investing in technology, absorbing knowledge from foreign partners, and competing internationally. Vietnam’s leadership asserts that without comparable domestic anchors, the country will remain permanently dependent on foreign capital and permanently exposed to the decisions of multinationals whose commitment to Vietnam is purely transactional.

The firms most likely to emerge as designated champions are drawn from Vietnam’s existing private conglomerate elite. These firms include Vingroup which is expanding in electric vehicles through its VinFast brand; FPT, Southeast Asia’s largest IT services provider; Hoa Phat, the region’s largest steelmaker; Thaco, a large logistics and infrastructure company; and low-cost airline Vietjet.

Vietnam’s government argues national champions are necessary because the private sector, despite contributing 60 percent of GDP, remains fragmented and undersized relative to regional competitors. Without large domestically owned firms anchoring supply chains, Vietnam believes it cannot transition from FDI-dependent assembler to the home of innovative world-beating companies. Resolution 68 represents Hanoi’s most explicit acknowledgment of this structural gap and an admission that private sector leadership is an economic necessity. Entrepreneurs are now designated “soldiers on the economic front” entrusted with driving industrialization.

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