Vietnam firms face a strategic inflection point as old advantages fade

InnoEx Forum 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City brought together business leaders, investors and experts to ask how Vietnamese companies can build new competitive advantages as cost, capital and labor-based growth lose force. Speakers pointed to data trust, AI, faster decision-making and timely strategic pivots as key to Vietnam’s next phase of growth.

Why it matters: - Vietnam posted 8% GDP growth in 2025, the highest in ASEAN. - The World Bank estimates Vietnam needs about 6% average annual growth for the next two decades to reach high-income status by 2045. - That target is harder to meet if companies keep relying on the old mix of cheap labor, capital expansion and cost advantage. - Business leaders at InnoEx Forum 2026 argued that Vietnam now needs a new foundation for competitiveness.

What happened: - InnoEx Forum 2026 was held in Ho Chi Minh City on Aug. 23 under the theme “The Inflection Point – Where Global Shifts Fuel Business Reinvention.” - The forum gathered experts, business leaders and investors from Vietnam and abroad. - Discussions focused on what should replace the traditional advantages that powered Vietnamese business growth. - More information is available from the event organizer.

The details: - Nguyen Huy, head of the Data Technology Department at the National Data Association, opened the Business Innovation Forum with a keynote on building Vietnam’s trust infrastructure. - Nguyen Huy said Vietnamese companies have plenty of data, but the real challenge is making data reliable enough for transactions, credit decisions and cross-border cooperation. - The keynote argued that data becomes a competitive asset only when it is authenticated, interconnected and reusable. - A “Pivot or Defense?” panel featured Phung Viet Thang of Intel Vietnam, Nguyen Van Giap of Lenovo Vietnam and Albert Antoine of Taipy. - The panel examined competitive gaps in computing power, enterprise deployment capability and the speed of policy execution. - Truong Ly Hoang Phi, head of the InnoEx Organizing Committee, used Intel’s exit from memory chips and Lenovo’s 2005 acquisition of IBM’s PC business as examples of different kinds of strategic shift. - Phi argued that ambition-driven pivots are about creating the next advantage, not just surviving. - Phung Viet Thang said businesses need to understand who they are and what they already have before changing direction. - A “Rebuilding Advantage” session included Roy Tavenor of Red Design Group and Causeway Global, Douglas Jackson of Indissoluble Partners, and Jorge Martin Martinez of Bull Management Consulting. - Nguyen Anh Duc, former CEO of Saigon Co.op, moderated the session. - Tavenor warned that fast growth after COVID did not guarantee a sustainable business model. - Nguyen Anh Duc said companies should first confront their blind spots before deploying scarce resources. - Douglas Jackson advised urgency on reversible decisions, such as testing new processes, changing prices or trying new distribution channels, while being cautious on irreversible moves. - The forum also showcased two transformation stories: Scommerce’s use of AI to allocate logistics labor and Alterno’s sand battery energy storage technology for green infrastructure. - A “Data in Motion – From Data-Rich to Decision-Fast” session featured Leos Gregor of Home Credit Vietnam, Ta Anh Phuong of Seinetime and Webb Huang of Horizon AI. - An “Intelligent Operations” session included representatives from SMC Phu My, Kyanon Digital and Focus Media. - Xiang Song, CEO of Focus Media Vietnam, said 5G wireless transmission reduced advertising deployment time from two days of manual posting to one hour and cut staffing needs from more than 60 people to a small technical team.

Between the lines: - The forum’s core message was not that Vietnamese businesses lack information or ambition. - The bigger issue is converting data, technology and policy into execution quickly enough to create a new competitive edge. - Speakers repeatedly framed change as a timing problem as much as a strategy problem. - The discussion suggested that waiting until pressure becomes unavoidable can make strategic pivots much harder.

What's next: - Businesses are expected to focus more on trust infrastructure, AI deployment, operational speed and sustainable models. - The forum pointed to earlier detection of strategic inflection points as a way to adjust before market pressure forces change. - The event closed with a call for companies to identify what can no longer stay the same and act before the market does.

The bottom line: - Vietnam’s next growth phase will depend less on scale and cost and more on how fast businesses can turn data, technology and strategy into durable advantage.