Vietnam has successfully established itself as a manufacturing and export hub within global value chains. However, as international competition intensifies, technology evolves rapidly, and expectations around transparency and ESG continue to rise, the advantages of the next growth phase will extend beyond production capacity. Vietnamese enterprises will need new capabilities: using data to make better decisions, turning transparency into a competitive advantage, building ESG readiness, and adopting AI on a foundation of trusted data.
According to the World Bank’s report, “Viet Nam 2045: Trading Up in a Changing World – Pathways to a High-Income Future,” the share of domestic firms participating in global value chains declined from 35% in 2009 to 18% in 2023, while foreign-invested firms now account for around 73% of Vietnam’s exports. These figures highlight that the challenge of the next growth cycle is not simply to produce more, but to enable Vietnamese enterprises to become capable, innovative and trusted partners that can capture a greater share of higher-value activities across supply chains.
From having data to making better decisions
Today, businesses are not short of data on customers, suppliers, transactions, finances, operations, markets and, increasingly, ESG. However, having large volumes of data does not automatically lead to better decisions. Data creates value only when it is accurate, standardised, up to date and can be translated into action. This is particularly important for risk management, as businesses are required to assess an increasing number of partners, suppliers and customers. When information is incomplete or inconsistent, faster processing does not necessarily mean better decisions.
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) makes this requirement even more apparent. AI can help businesses analyse large volumes of data, identify trends and automate many decisions, but it cannot turn poor-quality data into reliable information. The World Bank’s “Building Data Infrastructure for AI Readiness” programme highlights quality data as one of the four key foundations of AI readiness, alongside connectivity, compute capacity and skills. Data gaps and poor data quality can constrain the ability to scale AI applications and increase risks related to accuracy, bias and data governance. Vietnamese enterprises therefore need to shift from simply collecting data (data collection) towards turning data into actionable insights for decision-making (data intelligence), while combining AI with quality data and appropriate governance.
When transparency becomes a business asset
As Vietnamese enterprises become increasingly involved in cross-border transactions, transparency is no longer simply a compliance requirement; it is directly influencing their ability to do business. An international customer wants to know not only whether a company can manufacture a product, but also who the company is, its financial capacity, ownership structure, operating history and the risks associated with the relationship. Similarly, banks need information to assess creditworthiness, investors need a basis for evaluating opportunities and risks, while global corporations need to conduct supplier due diligence before bringing a company into their supply chains.
In this context, business transparency is becoming an intangible business asset that helps enterprises build trust with customers, reduce counterparty risk, support access to capital and increase their chances of being selected for global supply chains. Vietnamese enterprises need to move from being known to being verifiable. A company without an internationally recognised brand can still build trust if its legal identity, capabilities and business activities are clearly verified and consistently presented. Standardising business identification, building a reliable business information profile and proactively improving data transparency can therefore help narrow the information gap with international partners. In other words, transparency does not simply help enterprises meet market requirements; it can also open the door to new markets.
From ESG reporting to business capability
ESG is also moving beyond a discussion of reporting, brand image or corporate social responsibility to become a substantive business capability. ESG criteria are increasingly incorporated into supplier assessments, investment decisions, risk management and partner selection by global corporations. This means businesses can no longer simply state that they are committed to sustainable development; they need data to demonstrate it.
According to PwC’s Vietnam ESG Progress Tracker 2025, a survey of 174 businesses found that 47% were still collecting ESG data manually or inconsistently, while 43% lacked sufficient capabilities to collect ESG data; only 10% had highly developed ESG data capabilities. This gap indicates that ESG readiness is becoming a capability that businesses need to build, particularly those seeking to participate more deeply in global supply chains.
Businesses need to understand where they stand, what data they are missing, and how to measure, manage and demonstrate their ESG performance consistently. ESG assessment solutions such as SYNESGY can support this process, but more importantly, businesses need to change how they view ESG: from a periodic reporting exercise to an integral part of operational capability and competitiveness. ESG, transparency and data are therefore closely interconnected: good data provides the foundation for credible ESG performance, transparency turns ESG performance into trust, and trust creates opportunities for market access.
From this perspective, four capabilities – turning data into actionable intelligence, business transparency, ESG readiness, and digital and AI readiness – should be viewed as an interconnected system. Data helps businesses understand markets and risks; transparency helps demonstrate their capabilities; ESG helps them meet evolving market requirements; while AI and digitalisation enable faster information processing, automation and innovation. Trust is the common thread connecting all four. If data is not reliable, AI will struggle to generate trustworthy decisions; if information lacks transparency, partners will find it harder to assess risk; and if ESG claims are not supported by data and evidence, sustainability commitments will struggle to become a competitive advantage.
Business information, risk information and ESG data platforms can support enterprises on this journey. CRIF, with its business information solutions, D-U-N-S® and SYNESGY ESG, is one example of how a data ecosystem can help businesses strengthen transparency, assess risk and demonstrate ESG capabilities. At a broader level, however, this is not simply a story about one company or one technology. Vietnam’s next growth cycle will depend not only on its ability to attract capital or expand production, but also on whether domestic enterprises can become more transparent, smarter, more sustainable and more trusted in the eyes of global markets. This is the foundation for Vietnam’s transition from a manufacturing hub to an innovation economy – an economy where value is created not only by what businesses produce, but also by how they use data, technology and trust to create new value.
By Nguyen Minh Tu – General Director, CRIF D&B Vietnam
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