Enhancing the competitiveness of Vietnamese businesses

On the morning of August 4 in Hanoi, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a plenary session entitled “Diplomacy in service of national development in the new era - Breakthrough thinking, decisive action and substantive results,” as part of the 33rd Diplomatic Conference.

At the plenary session, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan delivered a presentation entitled “Key priorities for implementing the GoGlobal Program and the requirements and tasks assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Vietnam’s overseas representative missions.”

Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan said that, amid rapid changes in the global economy, the continued restructuring of global supply chains, the accelerating trends of digital and green transformation, and increasingly stringent market standards, the task at hand was no longer limited to expanding markets or advancing international integration. More importantly, Vietnam must translate the achievements of diplomacy and international integration into substantive improvements in the competitiveness of Vietnamese businesses.

Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Industry and Trade developed and submitted to the Prime Minister for issuance Decision No. 626/QD-TTg, dated April 6, 2026, approving the Program to Support Vietnamese Businesses in Expanding into International Markets, known as GoGlobal, for the 2026-2030 period. The program aims to implement Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW of the Politburo on private sector development and Resolution No. 138/NQ-CP of the Government.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan, the program’s overarching objective is to promote a broader, more effective and sustainable presence of Vietnam’s private sector in international markets through overseas investment and business activities, as well as deeper participation in regional and global supply and value chains.

To achieve this objective, the Deputy Minister said the Ministry of Industry and Trade had identified three key priorities for implementation.

First, the ministry will complete the foundational conditions required to implement the GoGlobal Program. It has been working to finalize the program’s coordination apparatus, including the establishment of a Steering Committee and the GoGlobal Program Office, while developing organizational and operational regulations and a coordination mechanism involving ministries, sectors, localities, industry associations and the business community.

At the same time, the ministry will develop and put into operation the program’s key support instruments, including the GoGlobal Portal and the GoGlobal Index, which will be used to monitor and assess the preparedness and internationalization capacity of businesses, localities and industries.

Second, the program will select appropriate beneficiaries and establish a pioneering group of businesses capable of expanding into international markets. Rather than providing support on a broad and unfocused basis, GoGlobal will concentrate on building a core group of enterprises to lead the internationalization process.

Priority groups will include businesses capable of leading global value chains, enterprises with advantages in exploiting niche markets, innovative startups, and businesses operating in technology, digitalization and logistics. By developing this pioneering group, GoGlobal seeks to generate spillover effects and encourage the wider Vietnamese business community to invest overseas with greater confidence, develop international brands and integrate more deeply into global supply chains.

Third, priority will be given to the development of strategic sectors, industries and markets. Resources will be concentrated in line with the principle of establishing a deeper presence in traditional markets, expanding more broadly into emerging markets, and diversifying approaches to market access.

Alongside strengthening the quality of Vietnam’s presence in traditional markets such as the US, the European Union, China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea, GoGlobal will expand its focus to the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.

The program will also prioritize support for industries with high technological content and added value, including processing and manufacturing, digital technology, e-commerce, logistics, digital services, green products, and high-tech industries.

Accompanying Vietnamese businesses

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan, GoGlobal is an intersectoral action program in which close coordination between the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Vietnam’s network of overseas representative missions will be a decisive factor in ensuring effective implementation.

To maximize the program’s effectiveness, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Vietnam’s overseas representative missions focus on three groups of tasks.

First, the network of representative missions and trade offices should be developed into information, forecasting and connectivity centers for the GoGlobal Program.

Vietnamese embassies, representative missions and trade offices abroad should continue to serve as focal points for providing information on markets, consumer trends, trade and investment policies, and the technical standards of host countries. They should also strengthen early warnings concerning trade barriers, trade remedy measures and policy changes that could affect the operations of Vietnamese businesses.

This information will be integrated into the GoGlobal data platform, helping establish a unified data system to support enterprises.

Second, representative missions and trade offices should further promote their role as bridges connecting Vietnamese businesses with international cooperation networks.

They should continue to facilitate connections between Vietnamese enterprises and multinational corporations, international distribution systems, logistics centers, investors, investment funds, trade promotion organizations and local authorities in host countries.

Cooperation should also be expanded into emerging areas such as digital transformation, green transformation, innovation, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and other high-tech industries, creating favorable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to participate more deeply in global production and innovation networks.

Third, the promotion of Vietnam’s national image should be closely combined with the development of Vietnamese corporate brands.

Through diplomatic activities, economic forums, Vietnamese goods weeks, investment promotion programs, cultural events and national promotion activities, more opportunities should be created for businesses to introduce their products, technologies, production capacity and brands to international partners.

These efforts will help build an image of Vietnam not only as an attractive investment destination but also as a country with a dynamic and innovative business community capable of competing internationally.

Concluding his presentation, Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan emphasized that, amid increasingly intense international competition, Vietnam’s advantages should not be measured solely by export turnover or the number of free trade agreements it has signed. They should also be assessed through the capacity of Vietnamese businesses to participate in, compete in and establish their standing in global markets.

The Deputy Minister expressed his confidence that, under the leadership of the Party and the Government and with close coordination among the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, other ministries and sectors, localities, industry associations and the business community, the GoGlobal Program would create fresh momentum for effectively translating the achievements of international integration into economic growth, productivity and national competitiveness.