Private Sector Development in Vietnam Amid Digital Transformation

Vietnam’s private sector has become a principal engine of national growth, accounting for roughly half of GDP and over 80% of employment. In recent years, the Vietnamese government has set ambitious targets to further expand the private economy – for example, aiming for private enterprises to contribute 55–70% of GDP by the mid-2020s and reach 2 million registered businesses by 2030. Central to this drive is the ongoing wave of digital transformation. The national Digital Transformation Program (2020–2025) targets the digital economy to reach 20% of GDP by 2025 and 30% by 2030, reflecting the view that private firms especially SMEs – must harness digital technologies to scale up and compete globally. This study provides an in-depth analysis of Vietnam’s private sector landscape in the digital era. It reviews the current structure of private enterprises (including demographics, contributions to GDP/employment, and composition of firms), examines major digital transformation trends (e.g. growth of e-commerce, fintech, cloud computing), and surveys government strategies and legal frameworks that facilitate (or hinder) business digitization (from national programs to new ICT laws).