On May 15, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) officially released the Vietnam Private Economy Report 2025 and the Provincial Competitiveness Index 2025 (PCI 2025), offering one of the most comprehensive assessments yet of Vietnam’s evolving private sector landscape.
The announcement comes exactly one year after the Politburo issued Resolution 68-NQ/TW on private sector development, at a time when Vietnam is simultaneously implementing three sweeping reforms: reducing the number of provinces and centrally governed cities from 63 to 34, transitioning to a two-tier local government model, and institutionalizing the strategy of making the private economy the country’s most important growth engine.
PCI 2.0 Introduced in Major Methodological Upgrade
After 21 consecutive years of publication, the 2025 report marks the most significant methodological overhaul in the history of the PCI rankings. VCCI unveiled the new “PCI 2.0” framework and, for the first time, introduced the Business Performance Index (BPI).
The study was compiled from extensive surveys involving: 3,546 domestic private enterprises, 586 foreign-invested enterprises (FDI), 1,001 household businesses across all 34 provinces and cities nationwide. According to VCCI, this is among the deepest and broadest surveys conducted on Vietnam’s private sector in recent years.
PCI 2.0 is now structured around nine component indices and 98 indicators, including: Market entry, Access to resources, Transparency, Administrative compliance costs, Informal charges, Fair competition, Business support policies, Legal institutions, Proactive local governance.
In a notable change, VCCI has moved away from publishing a rigid provincial ranking table. Instead, provinces are now grouped into six categories reflecting governance quality, acknowledging the disparities created by provincial mergers and aligning the methodology more closely with international practices. The national median PCI score reached 63.90 out of 100, signaling that reform momentum remains intact.
Five Provinces Recognized for Outstanding Governance
The report honored five standout localities — listed alphabetically — for exceptional economic governance: Bac Ninh, Da Nang, Hai Phong, Phu Tho, Quang Ninh
These provinces shared a common characteristic: balanced governance structures, with at least five out of nine component indices ranking among the national top 10.
Among the highlights: Bac Ninh led the country in proactive governance and administrative compliance efficiency. Da Nang topped the rankings for market entry conditions. Hai Phong distinguished itself with seven of nine indicators placing in the national top 10. Phu Tho ranked second nationwide in access to resources. Quang Ninh maintained strong positions in fair competition and governance quality.
New Business Performance Index Measures Economic Output
The newly introduced Business Performance Index (BPI) evaluates 23 indicators across two dimensions: private sector development and innovation capacity. While PCI measures the quality of institutional inputs, BPI is designed to measure market outcomes.
Pilot BPI 2025 results placed: Ho Chi Minh City first with 5.67 points, Hanoi second with 5.41 points and Quang Ninh with 5.33 points
The national median score stood at 4.20 points. The report also identified a statistically significant relationship between PCI governance quality in 2022 and BPI performance in 2025, suggesting that policy reforms typically generate measurable economic results after a lag of approximately three years.
VCCI: Private Sector Ready for Breakthrough Growth
Speaking at the event, Professor Dr. Ho Sy Hung, Chairman of VCCI, said Vietnam’s private sector has moved beyond a defensive posture and is now building the internal capacity needed for rapid expansion.
He emphasized that if bottlenecks related to markets, capital access, and policy transparency are decisively addressed within the next 12 to 18 months, private enterprises will be positioned for major breakthroughs. PCI 2.0 and the BPI, he noted, will provide deeper measurements of governance quality and the state’s ability to foster business growth in the next development phase.
Dr. Ho Sy Hung also stressed that achieving Vietnam’s goal of two million enterprises by 2030 will require a policy shift — from administrative control toward partnership with businesses, and from merely reducing procedural burdens to actively building competitiveness.
Private Enterprises Take Responsibility for Reform
At the ceremony, VCCI publicly thanked Tan Hiep Phat Beverage Group for serving as the founding and strategic partner of the Vietnam Private Economy Report program.
According to Dr. Ho Sy Hung, the decision by a major Vietnamese private corporation to continue funding a national-scale policy research initiative represents “a historically meaningful step.”
He stated that such support goes beyond financial contributions, demonstrating that Vietnam’s business community is increasingly willing to shoulder responsibility for building a transparent and sustainable business environment for future generations of entrepreneurs.
Representing Tan Hiep Phat Beverage Group, Mr. Nguyen Duy Hung said the company views its partnership with VCCI not simply as support for research, but as part of a broader corporate responsibility to help create a transparent, efficient, and modern business climate.
He added that the company believes strongly in Vietnam’s long-term economic trajectory and business environment. Over the past three decades, Tan Hiep Phat Beverage Group has continuously reinvested and expanded operations, building four manufacturing complexes nationwide. In 2026, the company plans to invest an additional US$100 million into new factories equipped with advanced global technologies.