The 16th National Assembly lays the foundation for a period of high-speed, sustainable, and self-reliant economic development

At the 1st Session of the 16th National Assembly, the economic development orientation for the 2026–2030 period was presented not merely as a five-year operational plan, but as a policy statement of strategic significance for the country’s next stage of development. The overarching spirit of the report is rapid development that must be sustainable; high growth that must not deviate from macroeconomic stability; expansion of the scale of the economy while simultaneously enhancing institutional quality, national self-reliance, and resilience.

The Government’s determination of a target to strive for GDP growth of 10% or more in 2026 and an average of at least 10% for the 2026–2030 five-year period demonstrates a clear shift in development thinking. This is no longer a cautious, passive approach to growth in the sense of safety, but a proactive choice to make breakthroughs in order to realize the vision toward 2030 and 2045, enabling the country to overcome the middle-income trap and move to a higher level of development. However, the core value of this orientation lies in the fact that the growth target does not stand alone, but is closely tied to the requirement of maintaining macroeconomic stability, ensuring major balances, improving people’s living standards, and enabling citizens to truly benefit from the outcomes of development.

A foundational highlight in this economic development orientation is the positioning of institutions as a strategic breakthrough. From the parliamentary forum, the message has been clearly established: if fundamental issues such as overlaps, contradictions, and lack of coherence in the legal system are not addressed; if there is no strong shift from a “pre-inspection” approach to a “post-inspection” approach; if the effectiveness of implementation is not taken as the measure of legislative quality, then it will be very difficult to create a development environment that is sufficiently transparent, competitive, and capable of supporting high growth objectives. Therefore, the requirement to improve institutions cannot be limited to amending laws, promulgating documents, or refining administrative procedures, but must aim to establish a new development order in which the State governs by law, the market operates smoothly, and enterprises are enabled to unlock resources for development.

Associated with institutions is the requirement to establish a new growth model. The report at the session reflects a strong determination to shift from extensive growth to growth driven by productivity, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, and the quality of human resources. The target of the digital economy accounting for approximately 30% of GDP by 2030, together with the policy of developing foundational technologies, strategic technologies, new development spaces, and new economic models, demonstrates that the development orientation has moved beyond the framework of merely increasing capital and investment. In other words, growth in the coming period must be built on a more modern economic structure, stronger endogenous capacity, and a greater ability to participate deeply in global strategic supply chains.

However, rapid development is only meaningful when the economy maintains balance and safety. Therefore, the requirement for close coordination between fiscal policy, monetary policy, and other macroeconomic policies is established as a principle of disciplined governance. The appraisal opinions of the National Assembly’s bodies also clearly emphasize that simultaneously pursuing high growth and macroeconomic stability is a major challenge, requiring prudent, flexible, consistent, and non-disruptive governance. This means that all policy decisions on investment, credit, the state budget, capital markets, energy security, or the handling of weak credit institutions must be placed within the overall framework of ensuring system safety, controlling inflation, and maintaining market confidence.

At the level of implementation, strategic infrastructure, energy, regional connectivity, and enterprise development continue to be identified as pillars that pave the way for growth. From expressways, high-speed railways, seaports, airports, and digital infrastructure to large-scale data centers, the entire infrastructure system is viewed not merely as a supporting tool for development, but as a material component of a new growth model. At the same time, the orientation toward strongly developing the private sector, enhancing linkages between the domestic sector and the FDI sector, promoting the leading role of public investment, and fostering transparent public–private partnerships indicates that the issue of resources has been approached in a more substantive and long-term manner.

A notable point is that the economic development orientation submitted to the National Assembly does not absolutize growth targets. In the new understanding, growth must go hand in hand with social progress and equity, environmental protection, cultural development, improvement in the quality of education, healthcare, and social security, and effective adaptation to climate change. This is not only a humanitarian requirement of development, but also a condition to ensure the sustainability of the growth model in the long term. An economy cannot be considered strong if growth is achieved at the expense of quality of life, through increasing inequality, or by trading off the environment and social security.

Overall, the economic development orientation presented at the 1st Session of the 16th National Assembly conveyed a clear message: the 2026–2030 period must be a phase of controlled acceleration, focused innovation, and development grounded in the rule of law, disciplined implementation, and national self-reliance. When double-digit growth is positioned within the overall framework of macroeconomic stability, institutional reform, infrastructure modernization, the development of science and technology, and the assurance of social progress, it will constitute a sufficiently solid foundation for the country to enter a new cycle of development at a higher level.