At Nghi Son 2 thermal power plant in Thanh Hoa province.
Prime Minister Le Minh Hung has signed off on Vietnam’s national standards strategy for the 2026–2035 period, laying down a decade-long blueprint to tether domestic rules to global benchmarks.
The strategy envisions a modern, open standards system welded to international norms, serving as a piece of soft institutional infrastructure, a policy tool and a technical backbone for state governance. It also casts standards as an engine of innovation, digital transformation, green transition and sustainable development.
It targets a synchronised standards ecosystem that ties together metrology and quality management, while pulling businesses, research institutes, universities and social organisations deeper into standards development and application.
The plan also ramps up institutional capacity, workforce training and international cooperation to give Vietnam a proactive role in shaping global standards and lifting national competitiveness.
75% harmonisation target by 2030
Vietnam aims to align 75% of its national standards with international, regional or developed-country benchmarks by 2030.
The strategy also targets full compatibility between Vietnam’s national standard classification and the Level-2 categories of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO)’s International Classification for Standards.
In strategic technologies and key economic sectors, Vietnam aims to seat representatives on 60% of the relevant technical committees at ISO, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Vietnamese standards committees are also set to join IEC panels in areas tied to smart city development.
It targets an annual 50,000 certifications of conformity with standards and technical regulations to sharpen the productivity, quality and competitiveness of Vietnamese goods.
Half of all new Vietnamese standards must involve stakeholders from enterprises, associations, research institutes and universities.
At least 50,000 small and medium-sized enterprises will access and adopt Vietnamese standards via financial assistance, on-site training and sector-specific consultancy.
Training 5,000 standardisation personnel
The strategy targets training 300 experts who can engage in international standards-setting or join technical committees at global and developed-country standardisation bodies.
It also aims to provide professional standardisation training for at least 5,000 civil servants, public employees and workers across agencies, organisations and enterprises, especially in key sectors. Standardisation, metrology and quality management will be embedded in curricula at a minimum of 50 universities and vocational schools specialising in engineering, technology and economics.
Vietnam will overhaul its standards system for digital technology and data fields, pushing harmonisation with international and regional norms in artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), big data, encryption, data centres and emerging digital tech.
About 100 new Vietnamese standards are planned to build a technical bedrock for technology, innovation, digital transformation and green transition.
Standards as policy lever and growth engine
Vietnamese technical committees will aim for leadership or secretariat roles in 1 - 2 technical committees or working groups at international standards bodies in sectors where Vietnam has strength.
Vietnam also plans to lead or co-lead 2 - 3 international standards projects in strategic technologies, tech products and key economic sectors.
At least 20 standardisation cooperation agreements with countries and international organisations are slated for signing and launching.
It also requires full and timely compliance with notification and enquiry obligations on technical barriers to trade under WTO/TBT, the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
New mechanisms will assess the technical impact of Vietnamese standards and regulations on trade, while databases on technical barriers in key markets will be built to back exporters.
80% harmonisation target by 2035
By 2035, Vietnam wants 80% of its standards harmonised with international, regional or developed-country norms to ease market access for its goods. Up to 60% of Vietnamese standards are to be developed based on actual demand from key markets.
Moreover, 30% of newly developed standards in the period are expected to serve emerging tech sectors, particularly strategic technologies, digital economy, green economy and sustainable development.
It sets a goal for 10% of sci-tech and innovation tasks to feed into the formation of Vietnamese standards.
For strategic tech sectors and key industries, Vietnam aims to join 100% of the corresponding technical committees at ISO, IEC and ITU, lead or co-lead 5-10 international standards projects.
Fueling sustainable national growth
It also targets an annual average of 70,000 conformity certifications to boost productivity, quality and competitiveness.
Standards requirements are expected to be incorporated into about 70% of sectoral strategies, plans and development agendas, cementing Vietnamese standards as a coordinating and guiding tool for sustainable national growth.
Vietnam also plans to shift its entire standards system into internationally compatible, machine-readable formats, with at least 80% of priority-sector standards meeting IEC/ISO SMART Standards principles.
That shift would provide the technical backbone for national digital transformation, digital product passports and automated compliance checks.
The decision lays out 10 task groups for ministries, agencies and localities. These include upgrading institutional frameworks, policies and infrastructure; driving innovation and digital transformation through standards, strengthening standards application and enforcement, building workforce capacity, managing technical barriers to trade and technical transparency, helping SMEs adopt standards, and pooling financial resources for standardisation activities.
VNA
