2025: From institutional breakthroughs to policy innovation for development

In 2025, Vietnam recorded an unprecedented number of policy initiatives, notably the implementation of the “three together” strategy with businesses community.

This assessment is made by Lexology, a leading global platform providing comprehensive information, updates, analysis, and insights into international legal and regulatory developments.

Institutional breakthroughs for development

The year 2025 is widely regarded as a milestone in Vietnam’s policy-making history, as it marked the most extensive and diverse wave of policy initiatives the country has ever witnessed. These initiatives not only reflect the State’s ambition and long-term strategic vision, but also open up new opportunities for development at a time when global integration is deepening and international competition is becoming increasingly intense.

Between late 2024 and throughout 2025, the Politburo issued seven strategic resolutions that have played a decisive role in shaping the country’s development orientation. Among these, four resolutions are widely considered the core pillars addressing the most critical challenges and priorities of national development in the current context.

These include Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW on breakthroughs in the development of science and technology, innovation and national digital transformation; Resolution No. 59-NQ/TW on international integration in the new situation; Resolution No. 66-NQ/TW on reforming law-making and law enforcement to meet the requirements of national development in a new era; and Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW on the development of the private sector economy. Together, these resolutions are commonly described as a “four-pillar framework” underpinning Vietnam’s development strategy.

Alongside these core resolutions, three thematic resolutions, Resolution No. 70-NQ/TW, Resolution No. 71-NQ/TW and Resolution No. 72-NQ/TW focus on three key areas of national livelihood that have a direct impact on every citizen: energy, education and training, and public healthcare. While each resolution concentrates on a specific sector, they all share a unified objective of building a solid foundation for Vietnam’s rapid and sustainable development.

Through two regular sessions and one extraordinary session held in 2025, the 15th National Assembly introduced a series of reforms of a distinctly breakthrough nature. During the year, the National Assembly passed a total of 89 laws and 91 resolutions, accounting for more than 40 per cent of all laws and resolutions adopted throughout the entire 15th term. A wide range of important laws were amended or supplemented, addressing fundamental issues such as land management, public investment and the organisation of local government. Notably, greater authority was delegated to local administrations in deciding investment policy directions, allocating budgets and restructuring administrative apparatuses.

The “three together” strategy with the business community

According to Lexology, Vietnam has pursued a “three together” approach in its relationship with the business community, emphasising listening together, understanding together, sharing aspirations, and ultimately achieving shared success and development.

This spirit, Lexology noted, serves as “the foundation for the Government’s determination to accelerate administrative reform, strengthen decentralization in decision-making, and place sustainability and technology at the center of growth.”

Amid a volatile global economic landscape, Vietnam has proactively implemented a series of initiatives to stimulate growth, improve the business environment, and develop the private sector. Numerous specialised resolutions have been introduced to promote the private sector as a key driving force of the economy, focusing on reducing costs, cutting administrative procedures and expanding preferential mechanisms related to taxation, land access and credit.

State management agencies have also formulated and implemented various programmes and policy packages designed to support enterprises, shorten administrative processing times and eliminate outdated regulations. These efforts are intended to increase the number of newly established businesses while attracting and mobilising both domestic and international investment resources.

In particular, the Government has maintained a strong and consistent focus on institutional reform to enhance national competitiveness and attract investment, especially in sectors such as logistics, digitalisation and e-commerce. These policy measures have not only helped stabilise economic growth in 2025, but have also laid the groundwork for a deeper transition towards a knowledge-based, innovation-driven and more deeply integrated economy. In this context, Vietnam is positioning itself to achieve stable and sustainable double-digit growth in the years ahead.

Guided by the principle that institutions must lead the way, and embracing a reform-oriented mindset that seeks to transform institutions from the “bottleneck of bottlenecks” into the “breakthrough of breakthroughs”, 2025 has established a critical legal and institutional foundation for the country as it enters a new phase of development. More importantly, it reflects a clear recognition of the business community as the most important driving force behind economic growth, development and international integration.

Experts note, however, that for these policies to truly permeate the business community, effective implementation will require substantial resources and a robust monitoring system to ensure feasibility, prevent legal conflicts and avoid the emergence of new bottlenecks. In particular, as expectations, confidence and trust among citizens and businesses continue to rise, public authorities are under increasing pressure to ensure transparency, conduct timely evaluations of policy effectiveness and remain ready to make necessary adjustments when required.

Vietnam is stepping into the future not merely with ambitious growth plans, but with a flexible, innovative and sustainability-oriented policy framework, opening up promising prospects for a new and dynamic phase of national development.

Phuong Trang (VEN)