“Selling five tons of rice is not as profitable as others selling a few chips”

On the morning of October 29, the Central Party Committee of the Vietnam Lawyers Association, in coordination with the Party Committee of the Vietam Bar Federation, held a conference to provide comments on the draft documents for the 14th Party Congress.

Minimizing the criminalization of economic

Referring to the economic development objectives for the 2026–2030 period, with a vision toward 2045, particularly the target of an average GDP growth of 10% per year, Mr. Phan Văn Lâm, from the ASEAN Institute for Legal and Economic Research, stated that, to achieve this target, the draft documents for the 14th Party Congress need to emphasize institutional and regulatory issues, especially the reduction of unnecessary administrative intervention by the State in the market and society.

In particular, regarding economic relations, Mr. Lam proposed that the criminalization of economic relations should be minimized. According to him, if the Party and State aim to develop the private economy, making it a key, core sector and the most important driver, it is necessary to create favorable conditions, a legal framework, and to design rules and regulations so that private economic actors can fully realize their potential.

At the same time, private enterprises must be assured that, if mistakes occur, there will be opportunities to rectify and remedy them, rather than facing total loss or losing the path and opportunity for development.

From this perspective, Mr. Lam suggested reviewing the criminal handling of violations of tax regulations. He cited the current situation where acts of tax evasion involving very small amounts can still be subject to criminal prosecution. Instead of criminal measures, fines could be imposed at ten times the amount of the violation, thereby providing an opportunity for rectification.

“Honestly, if the fine is tenfold, no one would risk evading even one unit of tax to face a tenfold penalty. Meanwhile, we are excessively heavy-handed on criminal matters. First, it does not recover the economy; second, it reduces development potential and causes public concern,” Mr. Lam analyzed, noting that while some cases involve intentional tax evasion, others are merely inadvertent errors.

Investment in science and technology key sect

In addition, Mr. Lam proposed mechanisms for allocating and efficiently using resources, improving the economic, financial, and land institutions, with particular emphasis on enhancing competitiveness. According to Mr. Lâm, Viet Nam’s competitive advantages are currently limited as there are no breakthrough, key products, especially in the fields of science and technology.

Mr. Lam stated that if Vietnam only does what other countries and people are already doing, breakthroughs cannot be achieved. Shrimp exports, fish exports, and rice exports are Vietnam’s advantages, but these advantages are not sufficient to drive economic development in the new era.

“Honestly, even if we sell five tons of rice, it is still not as profitable as others selling a few chips. Without something distinctive, we will not have internal strength for the development era,” Mr. Lam said.

From this, Mr. Lam proposed that priority should be given to investing in certain key sectors, particularly in the field of science and technology. “We must take such products as representative of Vietnam for us to grow and have the momentum for double-digit growth. If we continue to allocate public investment budgets evenly and broadly, achieving double-digit growth will not be easy,” he emphasized.

Regarding economic, financial, and land institutions, Mr. Lam suggested that the draft documents for the 14th Party Congress must be carefully studied to ensure stability. According to him, stable policies will help attract domestic and foreign investors by providing concrete, long-term, sustainable, constructive, and sound development policies. “Only then will we have the opportunity to develop a civilized economy in the new era,” Mr. Lam stressed.