Professor Trần Thọ Đạt from the National Economics University wrote an article titled "Việt Nam's economy: Making haste, slowly", highlighting that Việt Nam does not need to choose between speed and sustainability, but to understand that sustainability is what makes speed possible.

In their book “Education in Việt Nam: Making Haste Slowly”, Professor Martin Hayden and Thi Le Tran captured a paradox that goes well beyond education: the need to move with urgency, but not with impatience. I borrow that phrase here because it speaks directly to the next stage of Việt Nam’s economic journey. The country must make haste. But it must make haste, slowly.

At first glance, this may sound like a contradiction. Việt Nam is not short of ambition, nor should it be. The country has set its sights on becoming a modern, high-income economy by 2045, a goal that will require sustaining high growth for decades, not just for a few successful years. The World Bank has noted that achieving high-income status by 2045 would require Việt Nam to more than triple current per capita income and maintain average annual growth of about 6 per cent over the next two decades.

Recent performance gives reason for confidence. The National Statistics Office reported that Việt Nam’s GDP grew by 8.02 per cent in 2025, the second-highest rate in the 2011-25 period, with momentum supported by services and industrial production. Foreign investment also remained resilient, with newly registered FDI exceeding US$38.4 billion in 2025 and disbursed capital reaching an estimated $27.62 billion, the highest level in five years. International institutions remain broadly positive. The IMF projects Việt Nam’s real GDP growth at 7.1 per cent in 2026, while the Asian Development Bank forecasts 7.2 per cent growth in 2026 and 7 per cent in 2027.

These numbers matter. They show that Việt Nam has not lost its growth momentum. In an uncertain global economy, that is no small achievement. But numbers alone do not tell the full story. The deeper question is not whether Việt Nam can grow fast. It is whether Việt Nam can grow fast in a way that is productive, inclusive, green, innovative and institutionally sustainable. That is where the idea of 'making haste, slowly' becomes useful.

Beyond the old model

For nearly four decades, Việt Nam’s development model has been remarkably successful. Đổi mới (renewal) opened the economy, released the energy of households and firms, attracted foreign investment, expanded exports and connected the country to global production networks. The result has been one of the most impressive development stories of the modern era. Poverty fell dramatically. Living standards rose. Việt Nam became a trusted manufacturing base, a trading nation and an increasingly important node in global supply chains.

But every successful model eventually reaches the point where yesterday’s strengths are no longer enough for tomorrow’s ambitions. The World Bank has argued that Việt Nam’s export-driven growth model, which has relied heavily on labour-intensive and relatively low value-added trade, will not be sufficient for the next phase of development toward high-income status. This is not a criticism of the past. It is a warning about the future.

A country can grow quickly by mobilising labour, land, capital and foreign investment. But to become high-income, it must grow through productivity. It must generate more value from each worker, each hectare of land, each unit of energy and each dollar of investment. It must move from assembling to designing, from processing to branding, from attracting capital to absorbing technology, from exporting more to exporting better.

This transition cannot be achieved by speed alone. In fact, if speed is misunderstood, it can become a risk. Chasing growth targets without improving the quality of growth can lead to inefficient public investment, overheated credit, environmental stress, speculative real estate cycles and administrative shortcuts. These may produce short-term numbers, but they weaken long-term capacity.

Making haste, slowly, therefore, does not mean slowing down reform. It means sequencing reform well. It means moving quickly on the things that remove bottlenecks, while taking care not to create new ones. It means recognising that the fastest growing economies are often those with the most predictable rules, the clearest institutions and the strongest implementation capacity.

The foundations of speed

The first priority is institutional quality. In a high-income economy, institutions are not a background condition. They are a growth engine. Investors, domestic and foreign, do not only look at tax incentives or labour costs. They look at the predictability of laws, the speed of administrative procedures, the transparency of land and procurement processes, the enforceability of contracts and the consistency of policy signals.

Việt Nam has already recognised this. The current push for administrative reform, digital governance and streamlining of procedures is not merely a bureaucratic exercise. It is economic policy. A delayed licence, an unclear regulation or an unpredictable inspection can be as costly as a tax. Conversely, a transparent and efficient state can raise productivity without building a single factory.

The World Bank’s recent work on Việt Nam’s 2045 ambition places strong emphasis on institutions, arguing that an 'institutional big push' is needed to unlock private sector potential, drive growth and create quality jobs. That phrase deserves attention. Public investment in roads, airports, ports, railways and power grids is essential. But institutional infrastructure is just as important. A modern economy needs not only expressways, but also fast and fair decision-making.

The second priority is the domestic private sector. For years, Việt Nam has benefited from foreign investment. This should continue. FDI has brought capital, jobs, export markets and production know-how. But the next stage of development requires stronger Vietnamese firms, not only more foreign factories in Việt Nam.

Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW on private sector development, issued in May 2025, signals an important policy shift. It identifies the private sector as one of the most important driving forces of the national economy and a pioneer in science, technology, innovation and digital transformation. This is exactly the right direction.

But the real test lies in implementation. Việt Nam has many entrepreneurs, but too few firms that are large, innovative and globally competitive. Household businesses need pathways to formalisation. Small- and medium-sized enterprises need better access to finance, technology, land, skilled workers and public procurement. Private firms need to be treated not as temporary beneficiaries of support, but as long-term partners in national development.

A strong private sector also requires a cultural shift. Failure should not be stigmatised when it comes from honest risk-taking. Innovation cannot grow in an atmosphere where firms are afraid to experiment. Regulation must protect the public interest, but it should not punish initiative. The state’s role is not to replace entrepreneurs, but to create the conditions in which they can invest, compete and grow.

The third priority is upgrading Việt Nam’s position in global value chains. The country has become an export success story, but high export volumes do not automatically mean high domestic value added. The challenge now is to deepen linkages between FDI enterprises and local suppliers, develop Vietnamese brands, strengthen industrial supporting sectors and move into higher-value activities such as research, design, logistics, digital services and after-sales solutions.

This is where 'haste' and 'slowly' must go together. Việt Nam should be ambitious in attracting high-tech investment, including semiconductors, electronics, renewable energy, artificial intelligence applications and advanced manufacturing. But it should not assume that high-tech labels automatically create high-tech capabilities. Technology transfer depends on skills, supplier readiness, management quality and research capacity. Without these, Việt Nam may host advanced factories without fully absorbing advanced knowledge.

The fourth priority is human capital. It is fitting that the phrase 'making haste slowly' comes from a book about education. Economic transformation is ultimately a human transformation. A high-income economy is not built only by machines, roads or capital flows. It is built by engineers, technicians, teachers, nurses, managers, researchers, entrepreneurs and public officials who can solve complex problems.

Việt Nam’s education achievements are widely recognised, especially relative to income level. But the next phase requires a different kind of human capital agenda. The country needs stronger vocational training, closer links between universities and industry, more high-quality STEM education, better English and digital skills, and lifelong learning systems for workers who will need to change jobs as technology changes production.

This is not a soft issue. It is hard economics. If firms cannot find skilled workers, they cannot move up the value chain. If workers cannot upgrade their skills, productivity will stagnate. If managers cannot lead complex organisations, firms will remain small. If public officials cannot design and implement sophisticated policies, reform will remain on paper.

Growth that lasts

The fifth priority is green and resilient growth. Việt Nam cannot become high-income by following a high-emission, resource-intensive path that other countries took in the past. Climate change, energy security, urban congestion, air quality and the vulnerability of the Mekong Delta are not separate from economic policy. They are central to it.

Green growth should not be seen as a constraint imposed from outside. It is a competitiveness strategy. Global markets are changing. Carbon standards, supply-chain transparency and environmental requirements are becoming part of trade and investment decisions. If Việt Nam builds clean energy, efficient logistics, resilient cities and climate-smart agriculture, it will not only protect the environment. It will protect its export future.

The danger is that green transition is sometimes discussed in slogans. It must become practical: bankable renewable energy projects, credible power planning, modern grids, energy storage, clear carbon-market rules, green finance, public transport, waste management and support for firms that must meet new standards. This is another case where haste requires patience. Infrastructure can be announced quickly, but systems are built slowly.

Finally, Việt Nam must protect macro-economic stability. High growth is desirable, but stability is what makes growth credible. Inflation control, financial-sector soundness, prudent public debt management and a healthy real estate market are not conservative distractions from ambition. They are the foundations that allow ambition to last.

The temptation in any fast-growing economy is to believe that momentum will solve all problems. It will not. Momentum can hide weaknesses for a time. But when global conditions change, through trade tensions, financial shocks, technological shifts or climate events, weaknesses become visible. A resilient economy is one that prepares before pressure arrives.

Việt Nam is now entering a decisive period. The country has earned the right to be ambitious. It has shown that reform can deliver extraordinary results. It has a young and increasingly skilled population, a strategic location, strong social energy, deepening international integration and a government that understands the need for change.

But the next leap will be harder than the last. Moving from low income to middle income is difficult. Moving from middle income to high income is even harder. It requires not only doing more, but doing things differently.

That is why 'making haste, slowly' is not a call for caution in the ordinary sense. It is a call for disciplined ambition. Be fast in removing bottlenecks. Be fast in empowering the private sector. Be fast in building infrastructure. Be fast in digital transformation. Be fast in improving education and skills. But be slow enough to build institutions properly, evaluate policies honestly, protect the environment, manage risks and ensure that growth benefits people broadly.

Việt Nam does not need to choose between speed and sustainability. The real challenge is to understand that sustainability is what makes speed possible.

The country should make haste, because the 2045 goal is approaching quickly, global competition is intensifying and demographic advantages will not last forever. But it should make haste slowly, because the foundations of a high-income economy cannot be improvised.

In the end, the question is not whether Việt Nam can move fast. It has already proved that it can. The question is whether it can build the systems that allow it to keep moving fast for another generation. That is the task ahead. And it may be the most important economic lesson of all: nations rise not only by accelerating, but by learning how to sustain acceleration. — VNS