10:34:58 AM | 7/13/2026
Vietnam's merger and acquisition (M&A) market is rebounding strongly, with domestic companies playing a more proactive role. Our reporter interviewed with economist Dr. Nguyen Duc Kien about the market's outlook, key bottlenecks, and solutions to make M&A a driver of economic restructuring.
How do you assess recent developments in Vietnam's M&A market?
Vietnam's merger and acquisition (M&A) market is entering a new stage of development, with strong growth potential and a market structure that is evolving in a positive direction.
In 2025, the market recorded 367 M&A deals worth approximately US$8.7 billion, up 26% from the previous year. This reflects a clear recovery in M&A activity after a period of slowdown and a return to growth.
One notable development is that Vietnamese investors have become the market's leading force. In 2025, domestic investors ranked first in both transaction value and deal volume, completing 143 deals worth approximately US$4.046 billion. This shows that Vietnamese enterprises are becoming more proactive in restructuring, expanding their scale, and pursuing growth through M&A.
At the same time, investors from Thailand, South Korea, Japan, China, and the United States have remained active, demonstrating that Vietnam's M&A market continues to attract international capital.
Today, M&A is no longer simply about buying or selling assets. It has become a strategic tool that helps businesses restructure, strengthen governance, expand market share, and gain access to technology.
What factors are driving the M&A market, and what bottlenecks need to be addressed?
Vietnam is entering a period of deep economic restructuring alongside a shift in its growth model. Demand for corporate restructuring, ownership transfers, capital raising, and strategic partnerships is increasing, particularly as the number of newly established businesses and those resuming operations exceeds the number leaving the market.
At the same time, current policies and mechanisms, especially the Politburo's strategic resolutions, are creating more favorable conditions for domestic enterprises and supporting a fair and competitive business and investment environment. This provides a solid foundation for stronger M&A activity in the coming years.
However, the biggest bottleneck is not market demand but the lack of a well-coordinated ecosystem. The market still lacks reliable data, professional standards, specialized advisory services, and, in particular, effective coordination among businesses, investors, and regulatory agencies.
In other words, while Vietnam's M&A market has taken shape, its soft infrastructure has yet to support rapid and sustainable growth. If these gaps are addressed, M&A can become an important driver of economic restructuring and more efficient resource allocation over the next decade.
What should be prioritized to make M&A a growth tool for businesses?
For many years, businesses have viewed M&A as a temporary solution when facing difficulties or seeking to divest. In many developed economies, however, M&A is a common growth strategy that helps businesses attract investment, expand their scale, gain access to technology, markets, and management expertise, and strengthen their competitiveness.
As competition becomes more intense, businesses seeking faster growth, stronger competitiveness, and deeper integration into global value chains cannot remain outside the trend of mergers, acquisitions, restructuring, and strategic capital partnerships. As I often say, when heading into the open sea, small boats must come together to overcome rough waves.
The M&A market needs transparent and standardized rules to reduce transaction costs, build trust among market participants, and improve the efficiency of resource allocation across the economy.
Thank you very much!
By Thu Huyen, Vietnam Business Forum
