On 4 May 2025, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam signed and promulgated Resolution 68-NQ/TW of the 13^th Politburo on private economic development (hereinafter referred to as Resolution 68). Right after the issuance of the Resolution, hostile forces both at home and abroad have taken advantage of social networks to distort the purpose and core value of the Resolution, with the aim of casting doubt among the public about our Party's economic development lines. Hence, identifying, fighting, and refuting those distortions will contribute to building trust among cadres, party members, and people from all walks of life in the Party's economic development lines during the transition to socialism.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh addresses the Vietnam Private Sector Forum 2025 (photo: VNA)

With its fundamental, strategic viewpoints and solutions, Resolution 68 has paved the way for a new phase of breakthrough development of the private economy in Vietnam. From being underestimated and prejudiced, the private economy in Vietnam is now affirmed by our Party as "the most important driving force of the national economy". This embodies a shift in our Party's awareness of the private economy.

Despite the warm welcome of businesses, entrepreneurs, and people from all walks of life towards the new lease of life from Resolution 68, whenever our Party issues new policies and decisions to develop the country, hostile, reactionary, and politically opportunistic forces spread many false arguments on social networks, especially on Vietnamese channels of BBC, RFI, and RFA, as well as Viet Tan - a terrorist organisation. Via so-called “discussions and seminars” under the guise of “petitions” and “heartfelt opinions for the country”, they claim that: with the recognition of “the private economy as the most important driving force of the national economy”, Vietnam is preparing for a “change of colour, pivoting its development policy towards capitalism”, or “capitalising the economy”, or “putting aside Marxism - Leninism, abandoning the socialist path”. Some hostile elements even insinuate that, with Resolution 68, Vietnam should abandon the “socialist orientation” in developing its market economy. These wrong arguments aim at casting doubt on the path of developing a socialist-oriented market economy, negatively affecting the unity of perception and ideology in the Party and within society. This instigates “self-evolution” and “self-transformation” among our cadres, party members, and people.

Against that backdrop, we need to be alert in identifying, resolutely fighting, and rejecting all distortions by hostile, reactionary, and politically opportunistic forces; we need to affirm that our Party's viewpoint on private economic development in Resolution 68 is a strategic theoretical breakthrough in accordance with realities of national development in the era of national rise and prosperity towards socialism.

First, it must be affirmed that Resolution 68 represents both a continuation and concrete advancement of the Party’s policy of promoting the private economy within the multi-sectorial framework of the transitional period toward socialism which has been consistently implemented by our Party for nearly 40 years of renewal, starting from the 6^th Congress (December 1986). With the increasingly thorough awareness of the role of the private economy in the socialist-oriented market economy, through Party Congresses, more open, practical viewpoints have been supplemented to perfect the policy on developing the private economy in line with the maturity of the private economic sector in the national economy. At the 6^th Congress, the private economy had only been recognised to exist and encouraged to develop in a multi-sector economic structure. However, in Resolution 16-NQ/TW, dated 15 July 1988, by the Politburo (6^th tenure) "On renewing policies and management mechanisms for production establishments belonging to non-state economic sectors" and Resolution 06-NQ/TW, dated 29 March 1989, by the 6^th Plenum (6^th tenure), our Party affirmed that there is no limitation on the development of the private economy in terms of location, scale as well as in legal industries. In Resolution 14-NQ/TW, dated 18 March 2002, by the 5^th Plenum (9^th tenure) "On continuing to renew mechanisms and policies, encourage and facilitate private economic development", our Party continued to emphasise that private economic development is a long-term strategic issue within the development of a socialist-oriented multi-sector economy.

Manufacture process at Tan A Dai Thanh Company (photo: nhandan.vn)

At the 10^th Congress (April 2006), the private economy was identified as “one of the driving forces of the economy”. The Congress passed a key decision to allow party members to engage in private business. The 11^th Congress (January 2011) continued to embrace the spirit of the 10^th Congress and demanded to “perfect mechanisms and policies to strongly develop the private economy to become one of the driving forces of the economy”. At the 12^th Congress (January 2016), the Party officially confirmed that the private economy is an important driving force of the socialist-oriented market economy and urged to "perfect mechanisms and policies to encourage and facilitate the strong development of the private economy in most economic sectors and fields to transform it into an important driving force of the economy". At the 5^th Plenum (12^th tenure), the Party Central Committee issued Resolution 10-NQ/TW, dated 3 June 2017, on “Developing the private economy into an important driving force of the socialist-oriented market economy”. Being consistent with the viewpoint on the position and role of the private economy at the 12^th Congress, the 13^th Congress (January 2021) emphasised: “The private economy is encouraged to develop in all sectors and fields that are not prohibited by law, and is supported to develop into strong, highly competitive private economic companies and corporations”. Simultaneously, it requested to “strongly develop the private economic sector of the Vietnamese people in terms of quantity, quality, efficiency, and sustainability, making it truly become a pillar of economic development; All barriers and prejudices need to be eliminated to create favourable conditions for the development of the private economy”.

Thus, encouraging the development of the private economy in the socialist-oriented market economy in Vietnam has been a consistent policy of our Party in the past nearly 40 years of renovation. Resolution 68 is a continuation of that policy, with landmark decisions based on an increasingly thorough understanding of the role of the private economy, associated with the growth of this economic sector over the past nearly 40 years. Undoubtedly, this is not a preparatory step for a "reversal" or "pivot" as distorted and spread by hostile forces.

Second, our Party's promulgation of Resolution 68 on private economic development with breakthrough theoretical thinking and solutions is not “the abandonment of Marxism - Leninism" as distorted by hostile, reactionary, and politically opportunistic forces. On the contrary, it is a creative application of Marxism - Leninism appropriate to Vietnam’s realities, especially the realities of nearly 40 years of renovation. In the work "Principles of Communism", when answering question number 17: "Is it possible to abolish private ownership immediately?", F. Engels stated: "No, it is impossible, just as it is impossible to immediately increase existing productive forces to the level necessary to build a public economy". Later, V.I. Lenin also pointed out that the characteristic of the transition period to socialism is the existence of many economic sectors, including economic sectors based on private ownership. He pointed out: “…we must take advantage of capitalism (especially by directing it towards the path of state capitalism) as an intermediate link between small-scale production and socialism, as a means to increase productive forces” and that: “In a small-scale agricultural country, comrades must first build small but sturdy bridges across state capitalism and advance to socialism”.

Given our country’s practical conditions, with the starting point of an economy where small-scale production is still prevalent and the social productive forces unevenly develop, maintaining a multi-sector economy in general and encouraging the growth of the private economy in particular is an appropriate, creative application of Marxism - Leninism regarding the conformity of production relations with the development level of productive forces. The Platform for national construction in the transition period to socialism (supplemented and developed in 2011) has determined the policy of "Developing a socialist-oriented market economy with many forms of ownership and other economic sectors; Economic sectors operating in accordance with the law are integral components of the economy, enjoying equal legal status, advancing together over the long term, and engaging in healthy cooperation and fair competition”.

Realities of nearly 40 years of national renewal show that the policy of encouraging the development of the private economy in the socialist-oriented market economy in Vietnam is appropriate, allowing the liberation of the productive forces of society, maximising the development potential of the private economy for economic growth, contributing to solving social problems. The private economy in our country has gradually developed in both quantity and quality, becoming one of the important driving forces of the socialist-oriented market economy. At present, the private economic sector has approximately more than 940,000 enterprises and more than 5 million business households in operation, contributing about 50% of GDP and more than 30% of total state budget revenue, accounting for about 82% of the total labour force in economic growth and job creation. It has played an important part in promoting innovation, improving labour productivity, increasing national competitiveness, accelerating hunger eradication and poverty reduction, and stabilising social life. Many private enterprises have grown significantly, affirming their brand and reaching out to regional and world markets, such as: Vin Group, Sun Group, CT Group, TH Group, FPT, Hoa Phat, Trung Nguyen, Vinamilk, Vietjet, Thaco, etc.

However, as stated in Resolution 68, the development of this sector is still not commensurate with its potential. Specifically, the sector has not really made a breakthrough in scale and competitiveness, and has not met the requirements and expectations of being a cornerstone of the national economy. Despite various justifications for its limitations, the core issue stems from insufficient recognition of the private economy’s role and a failure to keep pace with development requirements. Institutions and laws remain encumbered, while leadership and direction have yet to be sufficient. Therefore, the private economy faces many difficulties in mobilising important resources, such as capital, technology, land, resources, and especially high-quality human resources. Also, some preferential and support policies are ineffective and difficult to access.

Against this backdrop, it is urgent to renew strategic thinking and adopt breakthrough measures to effectively promote the potential and role of the private economy. The promulgation of Resolution 68 marks a decisive shift, a strategic breakthrough in mindset, reflecting the growth of the private economy. This development requires the establishment of a coherent legal and policy framework to create more favourable conditions for this economic sector to develop in a sustainable manner and in the right direction of socialism. Considering "the private sector as the most important driving force of the national economy" is an objective recognition of its significant contributions, and an affirmation of the Party's political commitment to further liberate the productive forces of society, unleashing potential, and creating new momentum for the development of the private economy.

Third, the guiding perspectives, tasks, and solutions for private economic development in Resolution 68 are ultimately aimed at realising the objectives of socialism building in Vietnam. For the first guiding perspective, the Resolution affirms: “Within the socialist-oriented market economy, the private sector is the most important driving force of the national economy, serving as a pioneer for economic growth, job creation, and increased labour productivity and national competitiveness; Alongside State and collective sectors, it plays a core role in building an independent, self-reliant economy closely linked with deep, substantive, effective international integration, driving the country from the risk of backwardness towards prosperity”. In the second guiding perspective, the Resolution stresses the role of private economic development which is “to fully harness all potential and strengths, liberate productive forces, activate, mobilise, and leverage all resources, particularly those within the people for socio-economic development, to consolidate national defence and security and to strengthen diplomacy and international integration”. Obviously, Resolution 68 does not facilitate the process of “capitalising the economy”. It should be emphasised that, according to the Resolution, the private sector in Vietnam is encouraged to develop within the institutional framework of a socialist-oriented market economy, under the management of a socialist rule-of-law State and the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam; therefore, the tendency of “capitalisation” of the economy is impossible. Within such an economy, the State sector plays a decisive role, while the collective sector increasingly becomes a solid foundation of the national economy. The “key role” and “driving force” of each economic component are distinct. Resolution 68 underscores that the primacy of economic leadership is not transferred to the private economy, but is preserved within the state economy.

In the Draft documents submitted to the 14^th Congress, our Party clearly advocates “Developing the state economy capable of truly playing a decisive role in ensuring major balances, maintaining strategic orientation, and leading the economy, establishing large-scale state-owned groups and enterprises with international competitiveness and a pivotal, pioneering role in a number of important fields”. Our Party promotes the development of the private economy within the legal framework, under the management of the State, recognising its role as a driving force for growth and the liberation of society’s productive capacities, rather than as a process of “capitalisation”, “building crony capitalism”, or “abandoning the goal of building socialism” as hostile, reactionary, and politically opportunistic forces have spread and distorted.

Correctly understanding Resolution 68 and actively refuting distortions represent two basic, urgent tasks in protecting the Party's ideological foundation. To effectively fight such distortions, it is necessary to strengthen propagation and education work to raise awareness among cadres, party members, and all people towards the content of Resolution 68 in particular, the Party's economic development policies and lines in general. That is the responsibility of the entire political system under the leadership of the Party; all-level Information, Education, and Mass Mobilisation agencies, journalists, intellectuals, experts, and researchers need to proactively, promptly refute false information. Simultaneously, it is essential to actively disseminate typical examples, business models, and cooperatives that embody ethical conduct and make a commitment to social responsibility. Those efforts will serve as the most convincing evidence for refuting all distortions by hostile, reactionary, and politically opportunistic forces.

NGUYEN NGOC HOI