On January 20, 2026, the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) was officially opened at the National Convention Center in Hanoi. Held every five years, this is an important political event for the country, ushering in a new era of national development.
This congress brought together more than 1,500 delegates to discuss strategic issues for the country in the fields of politics, diplomacy, and economics.
The congress was attended by 111 ambassadors, chargés d’affaires of various countries, as well as heads of diplomatic missions and international organizations in Vietnam.
The opening session of the Congress was chaired by Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on behalf of the Presidium. After that, Vietnamese President General Luong Quang delivered an opening speech to the Congress, in which he presented the main theses and tasks of the country’s development vision and emphasized the beginning of a new page in Vietnam’s domestic and foreign policy.
In his speech, the President stressed that Vietnam prioritizes economic development, building on the achievements of 40 years of reform and creating a solid foundation for the country’s further development in a new era, pursuing an independent, self-reliant, multilateral, and diversified foreign policy, harmoniously managing relations with partners, especially with major powers, neighboring countries, and important partners.
Therefore, one of the central topics discussed and decided at this congress was the focus on the goal of high economic growth over the next five years.
• The Vietnamese economy is currently in a boom phase with GDP growth rates of 7.09% in 2024 compared to the previous year and an estimated 8.02% in 2025.
• Vietnam aims to achieve annual economic growth of at least 10% over the next five years, while maintaining macroeconomic stability and controlling inflation.
• Unlike many countries, where strategic documents are often dependent on political cycles, Vietnam declares an approach focused on consistency, institutional continuity, and development in clearly defined stages.
Secretary General of the CPC Central Committee, Chairman of the Document Subcommittee Mr. To Lam presented the 13th Central Committee’s report on the documents of the 14th Party Congress.
In his speech, he reaffirmed the strategic vision, spirit of innovation, and need for decisive action for a new stage of national development. “The 14th National Party Congress marks an important event, opening a new chapter in the country’s development under new conditions, situations, and goals; it is a congress of strategic autonomy, independence, self-reliance, national pride, aspirations for progress, and unwavering faith in the path chosen by the Party, President Ho Chi Minh, and our people,” said the General Secretary.
To achieve the country’s development goals in the near term, emphasis is placed on key guiding principles that are considered a strategic “launch pad” for realizing the goal of transforming Vietnam into a developed country with a high income level by 2045, namely:
1. Strategic decisions on economic development and domestic policy, with an emphasis on technology, innovation, and digital transformation (Active introduction of digital technologies into all areas of life and governance, identifying them as a new driver of growth, linked to artificial intelligence (AI), digital government, and digital society).
The prioritization of science, technology, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence is in line with global trends.
At the same time, Vietnam declares its desire to combine technological modernization with the development of its own human resources and internal competencies. This approach is characteristic of countries seeking to transition from the role of production sites to participants in higher-level technological and innovation chains.
2. Institutional reforms and strengthening of public administration
Significant emphasis is placed on improving institutional architecture: optimising the administrative system, decentralisation and developing the legal environment.
In a comparative context, this brings Vietnam closer to development models where institutional capacity is seen as a key driver of sustainable growth, rather than just a supporting element of a market economy.
3. Energy transformation is seen not as an environmental policy, but as an economic prerequisite for maintaining export competitiveness.
The Joint Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and aggressive development of renewable energy should ensure compliance with the decarbonization requirements of global supply chains.
4. Anti-corruption campaign (“Blazing Furnace”) and management balance
The anti-corruption campaign will be shifted from political mobilization to an institutional format.
The key challenge remains overcoming the so-called “fear of signing” — bureaucratic paralysis that slows down the implementation of infrastructure and investment projects. The focus is expected to be on the digitalization of control and a clearer division of responsibilities.
5. Comprehensively develop the cultural and social spheres, improve people’s living standards, and ensure social security.
6. Confirm the course of independence and multi-vector foreign policy.
The confirmation of a multi-vector foreign policy indicates Vietnam’s intention to maintain strategic autonomy in the face of growing global competition.
Vietnam’s declared strategic course combines:
• long-term state planning;
• ambitious economic growth targets;
• institutional and administrative reforms;
• selective technological modernization;
• the pursuit of foreign policy balance.
Taken together, this forms a pragmatic development model that differs from both liberalized market approaches and rigidly centralized economic systems, reflecting an attempt to adapt to conditions of global uncertainty.
Kyivstar, Ukraine’s largest mobile operator, increased its EBITDA in April-June 2025 by 23.5% compared to the same period last year, to 6.90 billion UAH, while its revenue grew by 25.8% to UAH 1.86 billion due to significant growth in the telecommunications and digital technology segments.
“EBITDA margin was 58.2% (-1.1 p.p. compared to the same period last year), reflecting a higher share of direct digital revenues after the consolidation of Uklon. In the second quarter, there was pressure on expenses, including an increase in utility, consulting, and IT support costs,” according to the report published by the parent company VEON on Thursday.
According to the report, EBITDA for the first half of the year increased by 39.5% to UAH 12.85 billion, while revenue increased by 36.1% to UAH 22.58 billion.
It is noted that Kyivstar increased its capital investments in the second quarter of 2025 by 72.8% to UAH 3.93 billion, and for the first half of the year by 89.8% to UAH 6.35 billion.
“Capital investments of 33.2% (of revenue) in the second quarter of 2025 and 28.2% in the first half of 2025 underscore Kyivstar’s accelerated reinvestment in its existing business to maintain its technological leadership amid the ongoing war,” VEON emphasized.
The company specified that in dollar terms, EBITDA grew by 18.6% in the second quarter to $166 million, while revenue increased by 20.8% to $286 million, while for the first half of the year as a whole, they increased by 31.5% to $309 million and 27.9% to $542 million, respectively.
According to the report, the total number of mobile subscribers decreased by 4.5% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 22.4 million, reflecting the continued migration of customers amid the conflict.
The decline in the 4G user base was smaller, at 1.2% to 14.4 million, while the number of customers using service packages increased by 23.7% compared to the same period last year and currently stands at 6.5 million, or 31.7% of total subscribers, as demand for bundled services remains high.
It is noted that ARPU (average monthly revenue per user) increased by 20.6% to UAH 146.
In addition, Kyivstar recorded a 20.3% increase in data usage in the second quarter, to 12.6 GB per user, while the number of digital users grew by 51.2% over the year, to 13.4 million.
As for subsidiary businesses, the report notes that the number of users of the Helsi medical information system reached 2.5 million in June 2025, which is 15.8% more than in the second quarter of 2024. In addition, new subscription models and the development of the B2B segment are also showing growth.
The number of users of Kyivstar TV at the end of Q2 2025 increased by 21.7% compared to the same period last year, to 2 million. The company added that the positive dynamics was ensured by the launch of an app for Xbox with Ukrainian-language content and exclusive sports broadcasts.
Uklon, which was consolidated into Kyivstar’s financial statements in April 2025, generated $21.7 million in revenue and $9.3 million in EBITDA in the second quarter of 2025, with 41.2 million trips and 1.1 million deliveries. It is noted that this integration was a strategic step in expanding the company’s presence in the digital services market.
Among other notable events in the second quarter, the report mentions the signing of a memorandum with the Ministry of Digital Transformation on the creation of the first large Ukrainian-language language model. The project is planned to be implemented by the end of the year to provide secure digital services based on localized data.
In addition, the company has received permission to conduct test trials of Direct to Cell satellite technology. Kyivstar plans to use this technology to provide connectivity in regions without traditional terrestrial mobile coverage, particularly in remote mountainous and rural areas.
Despite problems with finding workers, rising prices of raw materials and physical threats, Ukrainian businesses are optimistic about the future, 44% of surveyed enterprises are ready to invest in their development or recovery, these are the results of the February New Monthly Enterprises Survey (#NRES) of the Institute for Economic and Policy Research (IEP).
“Businesses are quite optimistic about investment given that a full-scale war is ongoing. For example, 42% of businesses believe that now is more or less a favorable time to invest in equipment. For comparison, at the beginning of 2015, when the ATO was in an active phase, the share of such enterprises amounted to only 14%”, – commented the results of the study, Eugene Angel, a senior researcher at the IEI.
The IEI also pointed out that business is gradually coming out of the state of complete uncertainty and begins to make plans for the future: in February 2024, only about 15% of business owners and managers could not give an answer about their business plans for the next six months, while a year ago there were about 40% of them.
At the same time, the level of uncertainty in the perspective of two years is still quite high – about 50% of respondents.
“A significant decrease in the number of those who find it difficult to make plans for the next six months indicates that optimism is returning to Ukrainian businesses. Moreover, the share of enterprises operating at 100% capacity is gradually increasing: in February 2023 there were 6% of such enterprises, now there are already 15%. But, of course, it is difficult for businessmen to make plans for the long term (2 years) in the conditions of war”, – said Oksana Kuzyakiv, Executive Director of IEI.
According to the published data, for the second month in a row the Business Activity Recovery Index (BAI) decreased – by almost 10 p.p. – From 0.43 to 0.34. As for its components, the share of enterprises that reported that their business activity was better than in the previous year decreased from 56.0% in January to 44.8% in February, nothing changed for 44.0% (30.9% in January), the share of those for whom the situation was worse than a year ago remained without significant changes for several months in a row (13.1% in January and 11.2% in February).
According to the survey, the main obstacles to investment are economic uncertainty, political instability and insufficient corporate profits.
As for the obstacles to doing business, February 2024 saw some changes in the list of obstacles: the assessment of rising prices for raw materials and commodities rose from 46% to 49%, and labor shortages rose from 41% to 46%, which respectively moved them to the 1st and 2nd places.
At the same time, the obstacle “not safe to work” dropped from 1st to 3rd place, although its value decreased slightly from 46% to 45%.
Estimates of power outages dropped from 26% to 24%, which is only the 7th most important obstacle, while corruption and pressure from law enforcement agencies ranked even lower in the survey.
In February, compared to January, the share of enterprises operating at full capacity slightly increased – from 13% to 15%, while the share of non-operating enterprises remains unchanged for half a year and amounts to 2% of respondents.
The survey emphasizes that the share of positive assessments of the government’s policy to support business is 8% and has remained unchanged for more than half a year, while 55% (58% in January) assess it neutrally, and 18% negatively (16% a month earlier).
IEI specialists also recorded a slight decrease in problems with finding labor: qualified workers are difficult to find for 31% of surveyed entrepreneurs (32.4% in January), and unskilled workers – for 26.5% of respondents (27.4% a month earlier).
The monthly IEI survey in February involved 542 Ukrainian enterprises located in 21 out of 27 regions of Ukraine. The field stage of the 22nd wave of the survey lasted from February 19 to February 29, 2024.
DEVELOPMENT, INVESTMENT, New Monthly Enterprises Survey, NRES, RECOVERY, UKRAINIAN BUSINESS
Ukrposhta JSC’s investments in development in 2024 will amount to about UAH 1.3 billion of its own funds, the company’s CEO Igor Smelyansky said at the Forbes Ukraine Business Breakfast on Wednesday.
According to him, the investments will be directed to the organization of container exchange with the transportation of goods by large-sized transport, due to the growth of parcel shipments. Investments in the creation of container exchange capabilities on the basis of one branch amount to UAH 100 thousand, Smelyansky said.
In addition, in 2024, Ukrposhta plans to buy a letter sorting machine. The machine will sort up to 50 thousand letters per hour using the QR code of an electronic stamp. The unit will be purchased with credit funds, the company’s CEO said.
“Ukrposhta plans to open another 300 post offices in Ukraine “to make the coverage as we want it to be.”
The branches will be opened in Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipro, Smelyansky said.
According to him, Ukrposhta will open 18 new sorting facilities in the next four months, and a sorting center in Lviv will start operating in two weeks.
At the same time, Ukrposhta will not develop the oversized cargo business due to the high costs of further delivery of goods related to taxes.
Ukrposhta’s CEO emphasized that the company has not abandoned the idea of acquiring the bank. According to him, the effect of the transfer of PINbank to the company will amount to UAH 5 billion over three years.
“We will reduce budget expenditures on pension delivery by UAH 5 billion over three years,” Smelyansky said.
Financial assistance in the amount of UAH 100.858 million will be provided to 25 agricultural enterprises in Kyiv region as part of the government’s e-Work program to support small and medium-sized businesses, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Denys Bashlyk said on Facebook.
According to him, the funds will be used to develop horticulture, berry growing, viticulture, and greenhouse farming. Thus, farmers will receive grants worth UAH 80.858 million for the development of horticulture and UAH 20 million for greenhouses. So far, UAH 74.401 million has been paid to them.
In addition, since the beginning of the year, 902 farmers in the Kyiv region have received UAH 10.402 billion in bank loans for farm development, the deputy minister stated.
As reported, since the beginning of the year, 12.3 thousand agricultural enterprises have received UAH 65.2 billion in bank loans for development. Of these, 9.6 thousand agricultural enterprises received UAH 37.5 billion in loans under the state program “Affordable Loans 5-7-9”.
Metinvest mining and metallurgical group will invest in a logistics center in Poland in order to increase the supply of Ukrainian metal products for export, the company’s CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov said in an interview with the leading Polish business publication Business Insider.
According to him, Zaporizhstal and Kamet Steel are currently operating at 65-70% and 75% of their capacity, respectively. About 25% of products are sold on the domestic market, the rest goes mainly to the EU. At the same time, steel is sold mainly in neighboring countries, such as Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Bulgaria.
The company also sells metal products to Italy, Germany or France.
“Steel mills can hardly complain about the low level of sales, but iron ore enterprises were less fortunate. Here, in addition to domestic consumption, China was also a buyer. However, in the current situation, exports there are practically impossible, since the Black Sea ports are blocked, therefore, the border countries of the EU also remain buyers here. Iron ore enterprises now use about 35-40% of their capacity. We tried to send raw materials to China through Romanian and Polish ports. However, unfortunately, the economy of this logistics simply does not work in the current market,” the top manager said.
He noted that at the same time, the coal production of the company in Ukraine operates at 100% capacity. The mined coal is supplied to the group’s coking enterprises in Ukraine, and is also sold on the local market. The rest is sold abroad, mainly in Slovakia and Poland.
“In 2022, our steel production decreased by 69% compared to last year. This affected a number of financial indicators. For example, our profit in 2022 is 54% less than last year,” the CEO said.
He also stated that Metinvest’s strategy has not changed – the company wanted to connect Ukraine and Ukrainian iron ore with the European steel production chain. Therefore, the group continues to look for opportunities to acquire assets that would allow it to use the Ukrainian raw material base, produce products in the EU and supply them to European consumers.
