He stressed that the state sector must “truly occupy the strategic commanding heights of the economy,” underscoring that its leading role should be measured not by scale alone, but by its capacity to safeguard macroeconomic stability, secure national autonomy and guide long-term development.

The General Secretary distilled this strategic repositioning into five core pillars - an anchor of economic security and sovereignty; an anchor of macroeconomic stabilisation and resilience; an anchor that guides and enables private sector development; an anchor of innovation and core technology mastery; and an anchor of governance integrity and national standards.

From dominance to strategic stabiliser

In his view, the state sector is expected to function as a stabiliser amid growing global volatility, including supply chain disruptions, financial turbulence and geopolitical tensions. It must be capable of intervening when systemic risks emerge and of maintaining essential economic balances.

He emphasised that state-owned entities must hold and master critical national “arteries and backbones”, from energy and strategic infrastructure to finance, key logistics systems and essential digital platforms, “not to monopolise, but to ensure sovereignty, prevent dependency and protect national interests in all circumstances.”

This marks a shift from a quantitative understanding of state leadership toward a qualitative one rooted in resilience and strategic autonomy.

A driver of innovation, not just capital

The General Secretary also made clear that the state sector’s leading role in the new era cannot be defined merely by capital size or asset holdings. If state enterprises are “strong in capital but weak in technology, governance and human resources,” they cannot fulfill their strategic mission.

Leadership today, he suggested, must be measured by the ability to master core technologies, align with international standards, manage data as a strategic resource and ensure cybersecurity and modern risk governance.

In this sense, the state sector is envisioned as an innovation driver that is capable of shaping industrial upgrading, strengthening domestic value chains and enhancing national competitiveness.

A platform to empower the private sector

Importantly, the General Secretary rejected any zero-sum framing between state and private sectors. A strong state sector, he said, is “not to overshadow” the private sector, but to serve as a “platform, path-opener and enabler.”

Where the State must retain control to safeguard sovereignty and macro-stability, it should do so firmly and effectively. Where it should play a foundational or guiding role, mechanisms must be designed to enable private enterprises to participate, compete and grow. In areas where state presence is unnecessary or inefficient, restructuring should be conducted decisively in accordance with market principles, ensuring transparency and preventing “group interests” or policy manipulation.

This delineation reflects a more nuanced, role-based approach to state ownership.

Governance benchmark and integrity standard

Another central message was governance discipline. State-owned enterprises, he argued, must set the highest standards of transparency, accountability and public integrity.

They should become models of national governance standards – the places where responsibility is clearly assigned, losses are not prolonged without accountability, and practices such as “group interests” or informal patronage networks are firmly rejected.

Without concrete performance metrics, timelines and enforcement mechanisms, he warned, the leading role of the state sector risks remaining rhetorical, while the country bears the cost in wasted resources and declining competitiveness.

Government’s Action Programme to implement Resolution on state sector development

VOV.VN - The Government of Vietnam on February 24 issued a resolution on an Action Programme to implement the Politburo’s Resolution 79 on the development of the state sector.