Vietnam Targets Top 100 Asian Banks by 2030 under Res 79

Resolution 79: Launching the Asian Journey for the “Big4”

Resolution 79-NQ/TW places the system of state-owned commercial banks at the center of macroeconomic stability, opening a journey to elevate the “Big4” on the Asian financial map.

Elevating Expectations for State-Owned Commercial Banks Resolution No. 79-NQ/TW (Resolution 79) of the Politburo on the development of the state economic sector, signed by General Secretary To Lam on January 6, 2026, marks an important adjustment in perceiving and organizing the role of the state economic sector in the new development phase. Within this overall context, the banking system and state-owned credit institutions are identified as the core force, playing a leading role in stabilizing the macroeconomy, regulating the market, and ensuring national financial security.

The approach of the Resolution shows that banks are not merely seen as a capital channel for the economy but also as policy tools with far-reaching influence on major balances and the stable, sustainable operation of the financial and monetary system. After nearly 40 years of Doi Moi (Renovation), the state economy continues to be affirmed as playing the leading role, but alongside this is a clearer requirement for efficiency, market discipline, and accountability.

Resolution 79 also frankly points out existing limitations in the management and use of state resources. The operational efficiency of some state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and financial institutions is not commensurate with the scale of resources assigned; legal institutions still have bottlenecks; implementation in some places is not strict; and supervision work has not met requirements. These shortcomings have somewhat diminished the leading role of the state economic sector in practice.

Based on that reality, the Resolution emphasizes a consistent viewpoint: the state economy plays a leading role but is equal before the law with other economic sectors. Resources, including the state-owned commercial bank system, must be managed and fully accounted for according to market principles, used effectively, and protected against loss and waste. This is an important adjustment in thinking, placing efficiency and operational standards at the forefront.

Setting “Asian Standards” by 2030 A notable highlight of Resolution 79 is the establishment of specific goals for the state-owned commercial bank system by 2030. Accordingly, Vietnam strives to have:

• At least 3 state-owned commercial banks in the group of the 100 largest banks in Asia in terms of total assets.
• Development of 4 state-owned commercial banks leading in technology, governance capacity, playing a key role in scale, market share, and ability to regulate the entire system.

This goal reflects the expectation of elevating the state-owned commercial bank system in both scale and quality, not only within the domestic market but also in regional correlation. “Setting Asian standards” indicates a long-term development orientation, aiming for competitiveness, adaptability, and the position of Vietnamese banks in the context of increasingly deep integration.

[Image suggestion: Graphic showing the logos of the Big4 banks (Vietcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, Agribank) on a map of Asia, with an upward trajectory arrow. Caption: Resolution 79-NQ/TW opens the journey to elevate the Big4 on the Asian financial map. Illustration photo]

Capital Increase and Digital Pillars To realize these goals, the Resolution requires continuing to increase charter capital for state-owned commercial banks to enhance financial capacity, meeting capital adequacy requirements and operational efficiency. Along with that is the application of modern governance standards, strengthening risk management, information transparency, and accountability—factors that are increasingly becoming common measures of regional and international financial systems.

Digital transformation is also identified as an important pillar. State-owned credit institutions are required to build and deploy comprehensive digital transformation strategies, focusing on:

• Digitizing services and data.
• Real-time capital management.
• Developing digital banking.
• Expanding online financial services to all regions, especially rural, remote, and isolated areas. This is both a requirement to improve operational efficiency and a way to expand financial access sustainably.

Strategic Vision in Action In reality, many state-owned commercial banks have early identified their long-term development roadmaps. At the Conference summarizing Party work and business activities in 2025 and deploying tasks for 2026 held recently, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), stated:

“In 2026 and the coming years, the bank will continue to realize the strategic goal by 2030 to become the largest financial group in Vietnam, one of the 200 largest financial groups in the world, and one of the 700 largest listed enterprises globally, thereby contributing significantly to Vietnam’s sustainable development.”

These orientations show the proactive efforts of banks in concretizing the major goals set by Resolution 79.

System Restructuring and Market Spillover Effects Besides state-owned commercial banks, Resolution 79 dedicates specific content to perfecting the development mechanism of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) and comprehensively restructuring the Vietnam Development Bank (VDB). The goal is to diversify resources, increase capital, streamline the apparatus, and improve operational efficiency, while tightly linking policy credit with socio-economic development goals, focusing on critical infrastructure, priority sectors, strategic areas, remote areas, and ethnic minority areas.

The Resolution also emphasizes the role of the Vietnam Asset Management Company (VAMC) and the Vietnam Debt and Asset Trading Corporation (DATC) in the financial restructuring process, especially in handling bad debts of SOEs and commercial banks according to market mechanisms. Enhancing the capacity and operational efficiency of these organizations is considered one of the important tools to sanitize the financial system and minimize risks.

Capital Market Perspective From a capital market perspective, according to the analysis of Yuanta Securities Vietnam Co., Ltd., Resolution 79 impacts the stock market through three main transmission mechanisms. Notably, for the first time, it allows the use of all proceeds from equitization and divestment to increase charter capital for SOEs, instead of remitting to the state budget. For banks, this mechanism directly supports solving the Tier 1 capital problem for state-owned banks like BIDV and VietinBank.

Experts from Yuanta forecast that Vietcombank will be the first bank to meet the Top 100 Asia standard, while BIDV and VietinBank, with large asset scales but thinner capital adequacy ratios, will benefit greatly from the mechanism allowing profit retention for capital increase.

“Previously, having to pay cash dividends affected the ability to expand operations; Resolution 79 opens up greater room for credit growth and consolidation of financial capacity,” a Yuanta expert assessed.

Conclusion Resolution 79-NQ/TW places the system of state-owned banks and credit institutions at the central position of the state economy in the new development phase. Banks perform not only business functions but also play a role in regulating and supporting the implementation of development goals and market stability. Realizing the goals by 2030, therefore, depends heavily on the ability to fully institutionalize the Resolution, build specific action programs, and organize synchronous and effective implementation throughout the system.