Vietnam's economy: what comes next for Overseas Vietnamese

Vietnam's economy is moving from cheap labor, factories and foreign demand toward domestic consumption, deeper capital markets and higher productivity. For Overseas Vietnamese, the best openings in careers, business and investment are moving with it: toward finance, services, technology and management, where global experience counts once it is adapted to local context.

That was the shared view of three speakers at the OV Summit in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in February 2026. Brook Taylor, CEO of Asset Management at VinaCapital, looked at where Vietnam sits among Asia's growth stories. Huy Doan, Head of Large Corporate Banking at Techcombank, explained the economic and financing engine behind the growth. Bruce Delteil, Managing Partner at McKinsey Vietnam, took on technology and productivity. These are the lessons we would pass on to anyone, in Vietnam or abroad, trying to read where the country is going.

Vietnam already plays in the Tiger Economy league

Brook opened with a direct claim:

"Vietnam is not trying to be a Tiger Economy. It already is one."

He did not mean Vietnam has reached the income of South Korea or Taiwan. His point was about pattern. Vietnam is often filed under Southeast Asia because of geography, but at the OV Summit in February 2026 he argued it has more in common with the high-growth economies of Northeast Asia: a priority on education, export discipline, concentrated populations, coastal geography, and manufacturing used to climb the income ladder.

The public numbers support the scale of that climb. According to the World Bank, GDP per capita rose from under $500 in 1986 to $5,066 in 2025, extreme poverty fell from 14% in 2010 to under 4% in 2025, and in July 2026 the World Bank reclassified Vietnam as an upper-middle-income country.

Why it matters: if you compare Vietnam only with other ASEAN consumer markets, you set the wrong expectations. The practical takeaway is to watch Vietnam as a country in the middle of a structural upgrade, not only as a market.

The first engine worked, and created the need for a second

Vietnam's modern growth was built on export-led manufacturing, foreign direct investment and global supply chains relocating to Vietnam. The National Statistics Office estimates that GDP grew 8.02% in 2025 and goods exports reached $475.04 billion, up 17.0% on the year.

Huy's point at the OV Summit in February 2026 was that this formula lifted living standards, but Vietnam cannot rely on it forever. Factories created jobs, jobs raised income, and higher income created demand for better housing, finance, healthcare, education and services. That demand is now the second engine. The same statistics office puts the growth of final consumption at 7.95% in 2025, and the services sector contributed 51.08% of the year's growth.

For Overseas Vietnamese, this changes the question. Vietnam is no longer only a place that makes things for the world. It is a large market of its own, driven by Vietnamese consumers. That creates openings in areas such as:

• financial services, digital banking and wealth management
• healthcare and insurance
• education
• retail and consumer brands
• logistics, hospitality and lifestyle

Many Overseas Vietnamese have lived in mature consumer markets. They know higher service standards, brand trust and digital convenience. Those patterns do not copy and paste into Vietnam, but they can be translated. If you are thinking about building here, start with how to test a business idea in Vietnam before you spend serious money.

Growth now needs more capital than banks can give

Huy's second theme was money. Vietnam's banks have financed much of its growth, but the next phase asks for more: high-speed rail, airports, the energy transition, data centers, advanced manufacturing and better cities. In his view, neither the state nor the banks can fund all of it alone. Vietnam needs deeper capital markets, more public-private partnerships, more private investors and more sophisticated financial products.

This is one of the most useful parts of the story for Overseas Vietnamese in finance, law, investing, consulting and real estate. Bonds, equity markets, project finance, insurance and wealth management all need people who understand global standards and local context at the same time. That is a profile many in the diaspora already have.

Productivity is the next constraint

Bruce moved the discussion from how fast Vietnam grows to how well. His starting point was resilience: Vietnam held up through COVID and kept attracting foreign investment. His concern was local value capture. At the OV Summit in February 2026 he noted that manufacturing exports and foreign investment have risen, but domestic value added has not kept pace. A country can export more and assemble more while keeping too little of the most valuable work.

The upgrade he described goes beyond more factories: more design, engineering, software, intellectual property, supplier development and management skill, with more Vietnamese companies moving up the value chain. Automation, AI and digital tools matter here less as a startup trend and more as a way to raise output in factories, banks, logistics, customer service, education and healthcare.

His argument was that technology strategy takes focus, because no country can win everything at once:

"The countries and companies that win will be the ones that make the hard choices."

What it means for Overseas Vietnamese

All three speakers pointed in the same direction, and as we read them, the opportunity is getting more serious and more specific. The old reasons to engage with Vietnam were roots, family, food and familiarity. The new ones are capital, competitiveness, technology, institutions, talent and execution.

In practice, that suggests a few questions to ask before you decide how to engage:

• Careers: does your experience help a Vietnamese company move up the value chain, raise productivity or serve a richer domestic customer? Those are the roles growing in value. Our post on moving to Vietnam for your career covers how to translate overseas experience.
• Business: are you building for Vietnamese consumers, from Vietnam for the world, or across borders? Each needs something different.
• Investment: are you following a fashionable sector, or a part of the value chain where Vietnam can keep the value?

Not every Việt Kiều needs to move back to take part. Some will join Vietnam-based firms or start companies. Others will connect global capital, customers and expertise to local operators from abroad. What this asks of Viet Kieu is a contribution that is specific, not symbolic. If you are looking at roles now, OV Jobs lists openings in Vietnam picked for Overseas Vietnamese.