Better expectations with continuing pressure
Vietnamese manufacturers are more optimistic about year-end business, but experts say resilience still needs strengthening. September's S&P Global purchasing managers' survey recorded business sentiment at its highest since February, while warning that weak international demand and transport disruption continued to constrain activity.
Wood producer An Cường's chairman Lê Đức Nghĩa estimated nine-month revenue growth of about 10-12%, following growth above 20% in the first quarter. He expected the company to meet a 15% full-year target. That remains a management expectation rather than a completed annual result.
Official survey data cited in the report show 83.9% of processing and manufacturing firms expecting better or stable conditions in the final quarter. Those expectations are separate from recorded nine-month increases in industrial production, investment and retail activity.
Productivity, differentiation and support
The Statistics Office said support should move beyond business entry towards sustaining and improving operations. It highlighted access to credit, technology and markets for smaller firms, alongside lower compliance costs and productivity improvements.
VCCI's Lương Minh Huân recommended shifting from output expansion towards productivity and value, and from competing mainly on low prices towards differentiation. He also emphasised effective use of data and AI rather than technology adoption alone.
Brand development was another theme, supported by product quality, innovation and adaptation. The recommendations respond to high input costs, uneven domestic purchasing power and international uncertainty. They are expert proposals for improving resilience, not evidence that all firms have already made those changes or that year-end growth is assured.