Vietnam Economic Times March, 16 2026

Dear readers,

The four State-owned commercial banks (SOCBs) in Vietnam today - Agribank, BIDV, Vietcombank, and Vietinbank - known as the “Big 4,” play a dominant role in leading the flow of credit throughout the banking system. These banks, possessing the largest asset scale among all Vietnamese banks and where the State holds a 100 per cent or controlling stake, are a vital part of the State economy, regarded as the “key valves” regulating the capital flow in service of the national socio-economic development.

As an important tool for the State to regulate and manage the national economy, these banks are also tasked with con-tributing to macro-economic stability, primarily controlling inflation and keeping exchange rates within permitted fluctuation bands set by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), while ensuring the major balances of the economy, especially the finance and monetary balance.

Politburo Resolution No.79-NQ/TW on the development of the State economy, signed by Party General Secretary To Lam on January 6, 2026, sets the goal of, by 2030, having at least three SOCBs among the 100 largest banks in Asia in terms of total assets, and developing the four as “leaders” and “pioneers” of the banking system in technology and management capacity and acting as the main force in terms of scale, market share, and market regulation capability throughout the banking system.

To enable the four SOCBs to effectively fulfill their roles as “leaders” and “pioneers,” as targeted, Politburo Resolution No. 79 directs that they be reorganized and rearranged, with their charter capital increased in order to improve their financial capacity, capital safety ratios, and operational efficiency.

Along with the “Big 4,” the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC), a State-owned entity established to purchase bad debts from Vietnamese credit institutions, which is expected to effectively handle the “blood clots” of bad debts, and the Vietnam Debt Trading Company (DATC), are also required under the Resolution “to enhance capacity and operational efficiency” in support of the restructuring process, especially financial restructuring and the handling of bad debts in State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and at SOCBs according to market mechanisms.

Independent expert Hong Ha, who views the Resolution as “a strategic command,” believes an immediate transformation is needed to upgrade the VAMC into a market entity with full resources, authority, and capacity to connect with external capital flows, create a system capable of self-recycling resources, and timely turn the “blood clots” of bad debts into real cash flow and new growth momentum for the economy. In other words, the VAMC needs to be elevated from the role of “bad debt warehouse” to the position of an entity that can restructure bad debts to serve the economy.

Clearly, Vietnam’s banking sector in general, and especially the four SOCBs and the VAMC, play a very important role in the strategy for developing the State economy in line with the directives outlined by the Politburo in Resolution No. 79.

Our Cover Story in this edition therefore focuses on analyzing the role of SOCBs and the VAMC in regulating capital flows and handling bad debts in the banking system to better serve the State economy in its development in line with the Resolution, as well as the overall socio-economic development of the country. Articles explain the issues facing financial institutions in Vietnam during its implementation, thus contributing to resolving the “equation” of expanding and further improving the mechanisms for SOCBs to promote their leading role in guiding and regulating the capital market, while continuing to develop towards the goals set by Politburo Resolution No. 79 for SOCBs by 2030, with a vision towards 2045.

Warmest regards

Dr. CHU VAN LAM
CHAIRMAN OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD