The 14th National Women’s Congress, held on June 17-18, was deemed a milestone for progress. According to Tran Lan Phuong, permanent vice president of the Vietnam Women’s Union, the past term recorded strong progress of women across most fields.
“The proportion of female deputies in the sixteenth National Assembly reached 30 per cent, higher than the regional and global average. In the economic sector, the proportion of female directors, business owners, and cooperatives reached 28.2 per cent. Many female entrepreneurs have built brands with a position in the international market,” said Phuong.
“In agriculture, women apply science and technology and shift to green production models. The female intellectual, scientific, and teaching workforce continues to affirm its role in research and innovation. Meanwhile, female artists, athletes, diplomatic officers, and armed forces continue to strengthen the image of the country and enhancing Vietnam’s position in the international arena,” she added.
Vietnam Women’s Union chairwoman Le Thi Thuy said that in the current pivotal period, Vietnamese women are no longer simply participants in the development process but must emerge as leaders of positive change within families, communities, and society.
“For the 2026-2031 term, the Vietnam Women’s Union aims to uphold the traditions, innovation, creativity, knowledge, and aspirations of Vietnamese women; build a strong organisation capable of adapting to the new context; mobilise society to advance gender equality; and improve women’s quality of life,” stated Thuy.
“By 2030, Vietnamese women will strive to become a driving force for national progress and a foundation of happiness for families and society, while the Vietnam Women’s Union will become a pioneering organisation advancing equality and empowering women,” she added.
Nguyen Thi Nga, chairwoman of BRG Group and vice chairwoman of the board at SeABank, said that unlocking women’s potential is a national imperative.
“To build a highly competitive economy, Vietnam needs to effectively exploit all resources, among which women are increasingly playing an important role in leadership, innovation, and creating value creation,” she said. “Vietnam is currently among countries with a high female labour force participation rate in the region, about 47 per cent. Enterprises owned by women account for nearly 24 per cent of the country’s total enterprises.”
With nearly four decades of business experience, Nga said that expanding opportunities for women also broadens economic space, generates social and human value, and benefits future generations.
According to Nga, women can make significant contributions across three key areas. “First, women are a core force in the green economy. International studies show that companies with women in leadership positions tend to place greater emphasis on governance, social responsibility, and long-term risk management, making women important drivers of the green transition in both production and consumption,” she said.
Second, women are central to building future human capital. “No-one can replace the role of women in nurturing, educating, and inspiring the next generation. If high growth is the goal for the next decade, then human capital quality will be the foundation for many decades ahead. Investing in women is investing in national human resources,” added Nga.
Third, women act as a bridge between economic and social development. Many female entrepreneurs, she noted, stand out for their ability to align business objectives with community responsibility. Their enterprises not only generate profits but also create jobs, expand access to education, and improve living standards.
Along the same lines, Thai Huong, founder and chairwoman of TH Group’s strategic council, said that women play a particularly important role in advancing the green economy.
“Our enterprise is ready to support clean livelihood models for female members, creating a closed and safe supply chain,” she said. “By promoting the dexterity but also determination of women, we can unlock all resources from agencies, enterprises to households.”
Women are also creating lasting social value. Thach Thi Chal Thi, director of Tra Vinh Farm Company, said that as a Khmer ethnic woman, she understands the challenges ethnic minority women face in pursuing economic opportunities.
“Taking advantage of local coconut resources, I decided to start a business from the difficulties of my homeland. With support from the Vietnam Women’s Union, we have so far linked with more than 150 farming households, creating stable jobs for about 300 local workers,” said Thi.
“I believe that the future of Vietnamese agriculture lies in the spirit of innovation, creativity, and aspiration of Vietnamese women,” she added.
The imprint of Vietnamese women is also increasingly evident in diplomacy, national defence, and national branding. Colonel Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, head of the Women’s Committee of the Army, said that women in the military continue to grow in many fields.
“With courage and intelligence, female soldiers have overcome difficulties and excellently completed tasks in scientific research, journalism, education and training, culture and arts, sports, United Nations peacekeeping operations, as well as missions in border areas, islands, disaster and epidemic zones,” she said.
Hien shared that along with professional duties, women in the military have also actively implemented social welfare activities, with a total value of gifts in the past five years reaching more than $10 million.
“Women in the military will continue to be brave, intelligent, disciplined, and compassionate, while accelerating digital transformation to meet new requirements,” added Hien.
Marco Della Seta, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam
Regarding cooperation between Italy and Vietnam on gender-related issues, while the two countries maintain strong political and economic dialogue, there is currently no dedicated bilateral dialogue specifically focused on gender. Nevertheless, there are many avenues through which cooperation and the exchange of experiences can be strengthened.
One important channel is parliamentary diplomacy. The recent visit to Italy by National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man represented a significant step in enhancing parliamentary exchanges between the two countries. Parliamentary diplomacy provides an effective framework for discussing, comparing and sharing experiences on issues related to gender equality.
Education is another promising area for cooperation. Italy and Vietnam have already been sharing educational best practices, particularly through the Reggio Children approach. Originating in Italy, this educational philosophy promotes openness, creativity and equal opportunities for both girls and boys.
I am pleased to note that a growing number of schools in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, especially at the preschool and primary levels, have adopted elements of the Reggio Children method, reflecting the strong educational cooperation between our two countries.
Le Kim Anh, President, Hanoi Women’s Union
As the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi possesses unique advantages in terms of knowledge, science and technology, education and training, as well as a high-quality workforce. I believe this represents not only an advantage but also a responsibility for women in the capital to take the lead in learning, innovation, and international integration.
The requirements of the digital era, the knowledge-based economy, and the green transition are posing significant challenges to both the structure and quality of Hanoi’s female workforce. There remain disparities in educational attainment, qualifications, and professional certifications among women across different sectors. Significant gaps also persist in digital skills, management capabilities, adaptability to new technologies, and foreign language proficiency, while many women continue to shoulder the dual burden of work and family responsibilities.
Through the National Women’s Congress, efforts should continue to focus on strengthening training in digital skills, while enhancing women’s digital capabilities and adaptability.
Wider adoption of IT is also needed to expand connectivity, attract more members, and create opportunities for women from all walks of life to engage in lifelong learning, advance their personal growth, and contribute more actively to the progress of the capital.
Financing Vietnam’s women and gender-diverse-led businesses
After five years backing small and medium-sized enterprises led by women and gender-diverse teams in Vietnam, Shuyin Tang, co-founder and CEO of Beacon Fund, reflects on a few key lessons, – starting with why the fund looks beyond “women-owned” alone.
One of the most common questions I get asked is: why did you start a fund to support women entrepreneurs? Actually, our goal was never to fund women instead of men, but to support gender-diverse businesses – businesses with both female and male leaders setting direction, driving strategy, and making things happen every day.
Vietnamese women step up as drivers of national development
In our view, businesses with gender-balanced leadership are stronger and more resilient. And it’s not just our perspective – it’s supported by ample evidence across industries and countries. McKinsey’s research finds that companies with more diverse leadership teams are 3 per cent more likely to outperform their peers financially, and the World Economic Forum reports that diverse leadership teams bring broader perspectives, stronger risk management, and greater responsiveness to shifting consumer expectations. Anecdotally, these findings have been borne out in our own portfolio.
Despite this, women-led and diverse-led companies are underfunded compared to their male-led peers. A 2026 landscape study by Sagana and Australian Development Investments puts the financing shortfall for women-led and diverse-led small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam at roughly $5–6 billion. Furthermore, only around 37 per cent of women-led and diverse-led SMEs are able to secure bank loans, 10 percentage points lower than men-owned SMEs, despite having similar revenues.
It’s always been my conviction to go where capital is needed most – where the market is promising but underserved. That’s why we chose to focus first on companies with gender-balanced leadership and ownership.
That belief – diversity rather than women alone – is where our thinking lines up with the 2X Criteria, the global benchmark for gender-lens investing.
The 2X Criteria looks at a business across five dimensions – ownership, leadership, employment, supply chain and the products or services it offers – and sets thresholds for qualification under each criterion for example, ‘at least x per cent women in senior management’), tailored by country and sector. In our experience, the 2X Criteria is a practical, achievable tool that companies can use to consider their gender diversity holistically, regardless of their starting point.
Another question we often get asked is: are there enough SMEs out there that demonstrate good gender equality practices and outcomes, which are also investable? Our answer is emphatically yes. Our portfolio – currently 10 companies and growing – is fully 2X-aligned. Across our investee companies, women hold 45 per cent of management roles, and these companies support more than 2,000 jobs, two-thirds of them held by women.
Our most recent investment is into TIMEC, a healthcare business founded in 2018 and trusted for delivering quality care at an affordable price. TIMEC was founded by three friends – one woman and two men – who exemplify the benefits of having a diverse founding team – not just in terms of gender, but in terms of skillset and expertise. The investment qualifies under three of the five 2X Criteria: ownership, leadership, and quality employment for women.
Because TIMEC already had such a strong foundation in terms of its gender diversity at all levels of the organisation, from management to medical staff, we decided to emphasise a different area as part of our impact value-creation work. The loan carries an impact-linked incentive – up to a 2 per cent reduction in the interest rate for measurable improvements in patient experience. That is what gender lens investing and impact investing look like on the ground: not box ticking, but an ongoing conversation about where a good business can grow more inclusive still.
So the next time someone asks me why we back women entrepreneurs, my honest answer is: we don’t – not exactly. We back balanced teams building good businesses – and there are far more of them out there than the funding numbers suggest.
