Despite impressive results, exports still depend on the FDI sector. According to experts, it is necessary to create a "new breath of air" for domestic enterprises to rise up and assert themselves.

FDI enterprises still "dominate"

Vietnam's merchandise exports have made many strong strides, continuously shortening the time to reach new records. In the context of a risk-free global economy, our country's exports in 2024 will still maintain positive growth, playing the role of the main growth driver of the economy. The total value of goods exports and imports is approaching the 800 billion USD mark, reaching a record of 786.29 billion USD; of which, exports surpassed the 400 billion USD mark for the first time (after 3 years). This is an important achievement in Vietnam's efforts to develop international trade. This result also brings our country to 17th place among the 20 economies with the largest trade scale in the world.

The Investment Strategy Report 2025 - Remaining the same, responding to all changes recently issued by VNDIRECT Securities Joint Stock Company stated that in 2024, Vietnam's goods exports will recover by 14.3% year-on-year to 405.5 billion USD from a low base in 2023, mainly thanks to increased exports of machinery and equipment, electronic components, as well as wood and wood products. The US maintains its position as the largest export destination for Vietnamese goods. Machinery, electronic equipment and wood products lead the export growth.

However, in reality, the export sector still has many unsustainable problems and is easily affected by external factors. Talking to reporters, economic expert Nguyen Tri Hieu assessed that, looking at the published figures in recent years, the export value of the foreign direct investment (FDI) sector accounts for a much higher proportion than that of the domestic sector.

On the side of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, recently, assessing the rapid recovery of export growth in 2024, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Phan Thi Thang pointed out many unsustainable factors, namely that the majority of export turnover is brought by FDI enterprises (about over 70%). The proportion of domestic enterprises participating in the global supply chain and global value chain is still low.

In 2024 alone, FDI sector exports including crude oil are estimated to reach nearly 290.9 billion USD, up 12.3% compared to 2023, accounting for nearly 71.7% of export turnover. Exports excluding crude oil are estimated to reach more than 289.2 billion USD, up 12.5% ​​compared to 2023, accounting for more than 71.3% of the country's export turnover. "The entire surplus in the trade balance also comes from FDI enterprises while domestic enterprises continuously have a trade deficit with an increasing trend," Ms. Thang emphasized.

Creating "new air" for domestic enterprises

Discussing the solution to the problem of sustainable exports, economic experts all agree that it is necessary to improve the capacity of domestic enterprises so that this sector can dominate the export "playground". "One of the solutions to improve the internal strength of Vietnamese enterprises is to create a "new breath" from new, flexible and modern mechanisms, with new breath and new context", Mr. Hieu commented.

According to Mr. Hieu, Vietnam needs to continue to promote institutional reforms and improve the investment and business environment with the aim of creating more favorable conditions for the private enterprise sector. This requires the determination of the Government and the synchronous participation of ministries, sectors and localities in removing bottlenecks in the business environment and solving difficulties for enterprises.

According to Dinh Thi Thuy Phuong, Director of the Department of Trade and Service Statistics (General Statistics Office), the Government needs to have support and priority policies for domestic enterprises to have a place in the global supply chain. Through that, it will create a spreading influence as well as a rising spirit for this business community. Only when domestic enterprises have a leading position will the country's export industry be sustainable.

Besides creating mechanisms, policies and creating 'new momentum' for the domestic business sector, economic experts believe that in order to participate more deeply in the global value chain, domestic businesses themselves also need to strive to rise up and affirm their position in the global supply chain.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Tran Thanh Hai - Deputy Director of the Import-Export Department said that the important thing also lies in the enterprises, they themselves need to proactively improve their capacity by improving the quality of export goods and reducing production costs to increase the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods in the world market; enterprises need to focus on improving the effectiveness of FTA agreements; diversifying markets, import-export products, supply chains; implementing a series of solutions to increase the exploitation of neighboring markets with potential; promoting a strong shift to official exports associated with brand building, towards sustainable exports.

"The Ministry of Industry and Trade is continuing to research and propose appropriate solutions to encourage and bind FDI enterprises to spread, share, and substantially support domestic enterprises to promote technology transfer, develop management skills, form supply chains of materials, raw materials and industry clusters, and improve the competitiveness of Vietnamese enterprises and goods," Mr. Hai added./.