What should businesses do to seize the trillion-VND public investment wave?

According to experts, Vietnam’s massive public investment drive is creating a golden opportunity for businesses across various sectors, from infrastructure construction and materials production to equipment and technology supply. With new policies encouraging private sector participation in public investment value chains, companies need to strengthen their financial capacity and management to make the most of this momentum.

At the MB Economic Insights 2025 Forum recently organized by Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank (MB), experts agreed that with ample fiscal space (public debt at only around 34% of GDP), public investment will remain one of the key pillars driving Vietnam toward double-digit growth in the coming years.

The government is ramping up investment in transportation, digital, energy, education, healthcare, and other essential infrastructure to boost the economy’s potential output. According to the Ministry of Finance, total planned public investment capital for 2025 is estimated at VND1.1 quadrillion ($42 billion), the highest level ever.

“Alongside the state apparatus’s rapid modernization and the push for digital transformation, I believe the scale of public investment disbursement will be much greater than in previous phases,” said Dr. Nguyen Tu Anh, Research Project Director at VinUni and former Director General of the General Economic Department, Central Economic Commission (now the Central Commission for Policy and Strategy).

Experts noted that beyond airports, seaports, and expressways, the government will focus on three key infrastructure groups in the near term: High-speed railways, including the North–South line and links to China and Laos; Digital infrastructure, rolled out aggressively to enhance productivity; Energy infrastructure, especially renewables - since sustainable high growth depends on power availability. High-tech sectors like semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI) also require substantial energy resources.

Expressways, in particular, are expected to open up new trade routes, boosting logistics, commerce, tourism, and investment.

“What’s notable about this phase of public investment is that public procurement now welcomes private sector participation. The state not only invests directly but also creates a market by acting as the largest buyer,” Dr. Nguyen Tu Anh emphasized, pointing to new opportunities for private firms as the government accelerates investment.

In the past, major public investment projects were mostly awarded to state-owned enterprises. Now, private firms are being invited to provide products and services for public projects — a major opening for business expansion and capacity building.

“This mechanism has been established under Politburo Resolution 68 and concretized in National Assembly Resolution 168. Therefore, private enterprises should closely follow policy developments to capture opportunities from this new public investment wave,” Dr. Tu Anh advised.

Agreeing with Dr. Tu Anh, Mr. Pham Nhu Anh, CEO of MB, said that recently the government has outlined a series of large-scale, “transformational” projects focusing on transportation, energy, and digital infrastructure. “If a few years ago a VND10 trillion ($385 million) project was considered big, today we’re seeing many projects worth hundreds of trillions,” he observed.

“This opens significant opportunities for businesses to join the public investment supply chain, from construction contractors and equipment suppliers to importers and exporters of materials, technology, and machinery,” said Mr. Nhu Anh.

To meet the capital needs of businesses within this value chain, MB has developed specialized financial packages.

For construction firms, MB offers optimized financial solutions, including credit, guarantees, and working capital support for infrastructure projects, spanning transport, construction, and data centers.

For supporting industries such as steel, cement, or equipment importers, MB has built a multi-tiered financing chain, linking investors, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers. This ensures capital flows to the right links within the entire public investment ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Senior Lecturer at Fulbright University Vietnam, recommended that private enterprises strengthen contract risk management, schedule, and cost control to effectively capture opportunities from the public investment wave.

Many public projects, he noted, have suffered delays and cost overruns, hurting contractors’ and suppliers’ cash flow and profitability. Only by managing these risks well can the private sector participate sustainably in the public investment value chain.