Vietnam advances strategy for materials industry growth

Speaking at the session, the top Vietnamese leader affirmed that Vietnam possesses abundant natural resources and strong market demand.

However, the country still faces major shortcomings in core technologies, deep processing capacity, leading enterprises, an integrated ecosystem for research, testing, certification and commercialization, and a robust strategy to organize a national materials value chain, he said.

The Party chief outlined five major viewpoints to guide the sector’s development.

First, the materials industry should be identified as a foundational and strategic sector during the country’s industrialization and modernization process.

Second, he called for focused and prioritized development rather than broad and fragmented investment.

He hinted at organizing the industry into three tiers: maintaining and upgrading basic materials, achieving breakthroughs in strategic materials, and preparing early for future materials.

Third, he emphasized the need to shift from raw resource extraction toward deep processing, technological mastery, and higher domestic value creation.

Fourth, science and technology, standards, highly skilled human resources, and Vietnamese enterprises must serve as the pillars of development.

Fifth, the materials industry should grow in a green, sustainable and self-reliant direction capable of international competitiveness while remaining aligned with global commitments and safeguarding national interests.

He assigned the government’s Party Committee to lead the drafting of a national strategy for the development of Vietnam’s materials industry through 2030, with a vision to 2045, and requested that it be issued as soon as possible.

The Party chief said the strategy must be linked to the Party’s broader policies on industrialization, modernization, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, green transition, private sector development, energy security, national defense, and international integration.

Also, the strategy must demonstrate long-term thinking, rely on reliable data, define clear goals, establish feasible roadmaps, and assign specific responsibilities, he stressed.

He said that the strategy should not be drafted in a general or overly broad manner, but instead answer key questions such as which material groups should be prioritized, why they are selected, what level of technological mastery is targeted, which stages of production should be controlled domestically, which agencies will take charge, which enterprises will lead implementation, where resources will come from, what policies are required, and how results will be evaluated.

The top leader also ordered a national list of strategic materials, maps of import dependence and domestic industrial capacity, as well as a portfolio of key projects and tasks.

He pointed to five priority groups for the immediate future, including rare earth materials, semiconductor materials, materials for batteries and energy storage, new materials, and next-generation construction materials.

These sectors have strategic importance and must be carefully assessed in order to determine the appropriate focus areas, implementation roadmap, and support mechanisms, he noted.

The top leader also called for sustainable and self-reliant development with international competitiveness, including increased use of green and clean materials, recycled and substitute materials, and low-emission ones.

He emphasized the need to ensure stable supplies of sand, stone, leveling materials, cement, and steel for public investment, transportation infrastructure, urban development, energy projects, and housing construction, while maintaining transparent and timely price disclosure.

Party committees and organizations at all levels were instructed to review the country’s reserves, exploitation status, processing technologies, environmental risks, and value-chain potential for rare earths, bauxite, titanium, tungsten, graphite, white sand, limestone, and other strategic minerals.

“The goal is to prevent resource losses, avoid raw exports, reject reckless exploitation, and trade the environment for growth, while also ensuring that resources are not left idle due to policy gaps, technological limitations, or weak coordination,” he said.

He reiterated that Vietnam will persist in transitioning from resource extraction to deep processing, technological self-reliance, and higher domestic added value.