Tokyo (VNA) – The four strategic shifts outlined by Party General Secretary and State President To Lam at the third plenum of the 14th Party Central Committee not only underscore Vietnam’s development potential but also strengthen the country’s economic and political standing, as well as its autonomy, amid growing geopolitical uncertainty, said Toshiro Nishizawa, senior fellow at the Strategic Communications Education and Research Unit (SCERU) of the University of Tokyo and fellow at the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) in an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency.
Assessing the significance of the four strategic shifts for Vietnam's development in the new era, Nishizawa stated that these orientations highlight the country's development potential. The third plenum’s swift move to translate the 14th National Party Congress vision into actionable policy directives should inspire confidence in Vietnam’s future development trajectory.
He noted that the Party leadership had identified the challenges that needed to be addressed, while placing "renewing the development model" at the centre of the national governance reform process. As Secretary General and President Lam said, these four shifts are meant to reinforce one another as part of a unified national development framework.
The first and second shifts deal mainly with domestic governance challenges. However, they have implications for Vietnam’s regional and global positioning, said the expert.
The third shift of moving from a traditional development model to one driven by productivity, knowledge, technology, and human capital is especially important. It will help Vietnam capitalise on the economic achievements so far and strengthen its negotiation position, not only economically but also politically, at a time when geopolitical uncertainty is increasing.
The fourth shift, moving from a reactive to a proactive approach on traditional and non-traditional security issues, lays the groundwork for a more autonomous and resilient Vietnam.
The researcher held that the country's recent reforms are aimed at strengthening its institutional foundations. However, the effectiveness of these reforms will depend on whether businesses and citizens are genuinely motivated to develop and whether they trust that their efforts will be rewarded fairly.
He cited a Nikkei article referring to the Switzerland-based Institute for Management Development (IMD)'s Professor Arturo Bris who compared the government and the corporate sector to a bicycle and the person riding it.
In Nishizawa’s interpretation, a well-designed bicycle is valuable, but if it is overloaded with unnecessary features, even the strongest rider will not be able to travel fast or far.
The expert said institutions play a crucial role, but they can function effectively only when people are motivated and have sufficient trust in those institutions to move forward.
Regarding the opportunities and challenges arising from Vietnam's shift to a development model driven by productivity, knowledge, science and technology, innovation, and high-quality human resources, Nishizawa stated that many economists have pointed out that growth models relying solely on increases in capital and labour inputs, commonly known as "input-driven growth," tend to overlook the roles of technological change, institutions, distributional dynamics, and structural aspects.
Historically, economic growth during the Industrial Revolution cannot be explained solely by increases in capital or labour, but was driven primarily by major technological and institutional breakthroughs. Therefore, Vietnam's shift towards a development model based on productivity, knowledge, science and technology, and innovation is the right direction.
Regarding the impact of Vietnam's strategic shifts, particularly its proactive risk prevention and stronger national resilience, on Vietnam-Japan cooperation and Vietnam's position in regional and global supply chains, Nishizawa said that, from a Japanese perspective, the four strategic shifts are basically positive. He added that proactive preventing risks and building stronger national resilience is something Japan should also take seriously.
However, the researcher emphasised that geopolitically, Japan-Vietnam cooperation is part of a much bigger and more complicated regional picture. And economically, both countries are plugged into wider supply chains, so the relationship naturally sits within that broader ecosystem.
Nishizawa said that from Vietnam's perspective, Japan is one of several important partners, and the same is true from Japan's perspective with regard to Vietnam. He said cooperation can only achieve its full potential if each country regards the other as a genuine priority rather than simply one partner among many./.
