Vietnam Economic Times December 01, 2025

Dear readers,

The Autumn Economic Forum 2025, jointly organized by Ho Chi Minh City, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the World Economic Forum (WEF), took place in the southern city from November 25-27, with more than 1,500 participants, including nearly 100 international delegations, ten centers for Industry 4.0, and over 75 science, technology, and innovation centers worldwide.

This marks the first time Vietnam has cooperated with the WEF to organize such a large-scale and impactful economic forum, setting the stage for it to become an annual event in Ho Chi Minh City.

With the theme “Green Transition in the Digital Era”, the forum reflects Vietnam’s strategic vision in striving to combine two transformative trends - digital transformation and green transformation - into a dual transformation, which is an important driver of the global economy in the 21st century, holding strategic significance for the development of all countries and territories towards a smart, sustainable, and deeply-integrated economy.

To create synergistic strength in this dual transformation, maintaining its role as the primary driving force for the development of a smart and sustainable economy in a digital-green environment with extensive integration, these two transformative trends do not proceed independently or merely in parallel. Rather, they connect, interact, and complement each other in a unified manner, collectively referred to as a “dual transformation”.

Speaking at the opening and plenary sessions of the forum on the morning of November 26, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the gathering is not only a significant international event but also a milestone that opens a new chapter in Vietnam’s journey of collaborative development for peace, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

Within the framework of the forum, during a dialogue with the Managing Director of the WEF, Mr. Stephan Mergenthaler, on “Dual Transformation from Strategy to Action - Shaping Vietnam in the Age of Transformation”, held on the afternoon of November 26, Prime Minister Chinh affirmed that digital and green transformation are objective requirements, strategic choices, and top priorities for Vietnam to develop rapidly and sustainably as two parallel aspects of one process.

The Prime Minister called for converting policy mechanisms into competitive advantages, building digital and green infrastructure, developing a skilled workforce, adopting smart governance, and, above all, pooling massive financial resources. State resources will play a guiding and activating role, he said, while new mechanisms must leverage all social resources, especially public-private partnerships and both domestic and foreign capital.

Topics discussed at the forum as well as insightful and guiding opinions from Prime Minister Chinh provide important orientations for Vietnam’s development journey in the years ahead, when “digital and green transformation are two fundamental elements constituting an inexorable and irreversible trend; the dual transformation has become an objective requirement, strategic choice, and top priority for nations to develop rapidly and sustainably,” as Prime Minister Chinh said in his closing remarks.

To provide readers with more information from both the national and international perspective on trends in digital and green transformation, our Cover Story in this edition focuses on analyzing and evaluating issues discussed at the Autumn Economic Forum 2025, with the overarching theme of dual transformation; an inexorable trend that is shaping the future of humanity.

Warmest regards

Dr. CHU VAN LAM
CHAIRMAN OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD