Fortune Asia Editorial Director: Vietnam Needs No Major Changes Over the Next Decade

Speaking at the 2026 Fortune Southeast Asia 500 Summit in Ho Chi Minh City on November 3, Fortune Asia Editorial Director Andrew Staples said Vietnam already has a strong foundation for continued development and does not need to make many changes over the next decade. For businesses, a stable environment helps them invest, advance projects and carry out their existing strategies.

Andrew Staples discusses the outlook for Vietnam’s economy and businesses.（VietVance）

Vietnam has 72 companies in the Fortune Southeast Asia 500, but none in the Fortune Global 500, which ranks companies by revenue. Vietnamese companies account for less than 10% of the Southeast Asia 500’s total revenue, yet contributed about a quarter of the increase in revenue across the list. Petrovietnam ranks 11th, while Vingroup ranks 26th, up 11 places from the previous year.

Staples said Vietnam needs to keep implementing its existing strategies to attract high quality foreign direct investment and move into higher value parts of supply chains. Technology and talent remain challenges in that shift; he cited partnerships between businesses and universities and other institutions to develop talent, as well as investment in automation, as ways to address them.

He also cited the investment plans of German software company SAP: In 2025, SAP announced plans to invest more than €150 million over five years to develop its research and development center in Vietnam, with a target of reaching 500 employees by 2027. Discussing capital flows, Staples said long term foreign direct investment should be distinguished from portfolio investment, which is more sensitive to global macroeconomic factors such as movements in the US dollar and interest rates.

Source: VietVance