Imagine a Vietnamese manufacturer seeking to become a supplier to an American company. It has a factory, skilled workers and the ambition to grow. Yet the opportunity remains out of reach. The company lacks information about procurement requirements, has limited experience with international standards and does not know how to establish credibility with a global buyer.
The problem is not necessarily a shortage of capital. It may be a shortage of connections that turn existing capabilities into commercial opportunities.
This distinction matters as Vietnam and the United States seek to deepen their economic partnership. At the Vietnam - US Business Summit in Hanoi on 14 October 2026, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc identified five priority areas for cooperation: advanced technology, clean energy, sustainable supply chains, finance and innovation, and education and workforce development. Bilateral trade reached US$157.83 billion in the first nine months of 2026, an increase of 24.5 per cent from a year earlier, according to figures presented at the summit. (Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry).
The challenge lies in ensuring that expanding economic ties create opportunities not only for large investors but also for the Vietnamese businesses, workers and communities connected to them.
One underappreciated resource may help: social assets.
Why relationships matter to economic performance
Social assets can be understood as the resources an organisation can mobilise through relationships, trust, reputation and networks. The related academic concept of social capital examines how social connections and shared norms facilitate access to information, cooperation and other resources.
These assets do not replace finance, technology or management capability. They influence how effectively organisations access and use them.
A network becomes valuable when it provides relevant knowledge, credible introductions, opportunities for learning or access to markets. A long contact list without those benefits may contribute little to competitiveness.
For SMEs, the strategic question is therefore not how to accumulate relationships, but how to build relationships that help overcome specific barriers to growth.
What a supplier-development programme can achieve
Vietnam’s automotive industry illustrates how these relationships can be developed deliberately.
In July 2024, Toyota Motor Vietnam and Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade continued a programme designed to improve the productivity and competitiveness of domestic supporting-industry companies. According to the ministry, the programme had trained and provided on-site production consultancy to more than 60 Vietnamese businesses between 2020 and 2023. Toyota had identified seven potential suppliers through the cooperation. A subsequent phase selected five companies for further support.
The programme provides a useful example of social assets in practice.
Participating companies were not simply introduced to a large buyer. They received access to Toyota’s production expertise, factory processes and specialist advice. Experts visited suppliers’ facilities, assessed existing operations and helped them identify areas for improvement.
The mechanism matters. A smaller manufacturer may struggle to interpret an international buyer’s quality expectations from a written specification alone. Direct engagement can make those expectations more understandable, while technical advice can help translate them into operational changes.
The relationship creates potential value for both sides. The multinational can work towards a more capable local supplier base; domestic firms can improve their production systems and become better prepared for demanding customers.
But the evidence must be interpreted carefully. The programme’s reported reach and identification of potential suppliers do not establish that every participant subsequently secured a contract, increased productivity or entered a global supply chain. Those outcomes require separate measurement.
The policy lesson is nevertheless clear: connecting SMEs to large companies is more effective when access is accompanied by a pathway to capability.
From CSR initiative to inclusive growth
A second Vietnamese case study illustrates a broader application of the same principle.
By 2023, Swire Coca-Cola’s sustainability report recorded 12 EKOCENTERs, more than one million people reached through access to clean drinking water, and more than 13,000 women benefiting from entrepreneurship opportunities or training. A later programme at the Hanoi EKOCENTER offers a more specific example: e-commerce training for women and artisans in the Ha Thai lacquerware craft village. Swire Coca-Cola reported that, of the more than 120 women participating in the three-month programme, 89% mastered basic e-commerce concepts, 67% used photo and video editing tools, and 13% established online stores on Shopee.
These outcomes matter because digital skills can help small producers overcome one of the barriers that often separates local production from wider market participation: the ability to present, promote and sell products beyond their immediate networks. The partnership also illustrates the complementary roles of different stakeholders. A multinational can contribute resources and organisational capacity; local authorities and women’s organisations can provide institutional links and community trust; and local entrepreneurs can offer product knowledge, cultural heritage and an understanding of customer needs.
In this sense, EKOCENTER demonstrates how social assets can function as a form of economic infrastructure. Relationships between businesses and communities can create channels for knowledge sharing, build confidence in new practices and connect entrepreneurs to opportunities that might otherwise remain inaccessible. Yet relationships are not a substitute for commercial capability. To turn these connections into durable economic value, small businesses still need competitive products, consistent quality, working capital, logistics, digital access and the ability to meet buyer requirements.
The implications extend beyond community programmes. For multinational companies operating in emerging markets, social assets can foster the trust and local understanding required for designing more inclusive business models. Participation in these networks can provide small and medium-sized enterprises with access to knowledge, partnerships and potential markets. But the transition from community engagement to supply-chain participation must be demonstrated rather than assumed.
A rigorous assessment would therefore look beyond the number of centres established or people trained. It would examine whether participants continue using their new skills, whether online sales and net incomes increase, whether women-owned businesses survive and grow, and whether local firms progress into stable commercial relationships with larger buyers. These measures would help establish whether social assets are merely enabling conditions or are being converted into measurable, lasting economic outcomes.
The case does not, by itself, establish that the initiative achieved every intended outcome. Its value lies in the management problem it presents: how can a business model generate commercial returns while creating meaningful opportunities for people who might otherwise remain outside formal value chains?
For inclusive business, the answer depends on the structure of participation.
Local entrepreneurs, small suppliers and community members must have a credible way to contribute to the business, develop relevant capabilities and receive an appropriate share of the value created. Consultation alone is not inclusion, and participation in a programme does not necessarily lead to sustained economic benefit.
Social assets can help businesses connect with local knowledge, trusted intermediaries and community capabilities. Yet those relationships must be underpinned by viable commercial arrangements, fair participation and quantifiable benefits.
The role of cross-cultural competence
As American and Vietnamese companies work more closely together, cross-cultural competence becomes another strategic resource.
Differences in communication, decision-making, negotiation and expectations about accountability can complicate cooperation. A request for written confirmation may be interpreted differently by two partners; a cautious response may be mistaken for a lack of commitment; an informal assurance may be taken as a binding promise when the parties have not agreed on its meaning.
Such misunderstandings are not inevitable consequences of national culture. They arise when organisations fail to clarify expectations and working practices.
Companies can reduce this risk by establishing clear responsibilities, decision-making procedures, communication protocols and mechanisms for resolving disagreements. They can also invest in managers who understand both international business standards and local institutional contexts.
For SMEs, these capabilities can strengthen credibility with international buyers. For multinational companies, they can improve coordination with domestic partners and help make supplier-development initiatives more effective.
Cross-cultural competence should therefore be treated not merely as etiquette, but as part of operational risk management and relationship-building.
Turning the summit's priorities into practical outcomes
The Vietnam-US Business Summit creates an opportunity to align high-level economic priorities with the institutional arrangements that enable businesses to participate in them.
Three actions would make that connection more effective.
First, multinational companies should make supplier-development pathways more transparent. SMEs need clear information about qualification criteria, technical standards, procurement processes and the support available to help them meet requirements. Training programmes should be linked, where commercially feasible, to genuine opportunities for supplier assessment and procurement.
Second, business associations and public agencies should strengthen intermediary networks. Many SMEs cannot independently access the expertise and relationships available to larger corporations. Sector associations, universities and technical institutions can help bridge this gap by coordinating training, disseminating market information and connecting firms with relevant partners.
Third, governments and companies should measure inclusion through outcomes. The number of meetings held, businesses trained or agreements signed provides only a partial picture. More meaningful indicators include how many firms subsequently qualify as suppliers, whether their productivity or quality improves, whether employment and skills development are sustained, and whether local businesses gain access to higher-value activities.
These measures would also help distinguish genuine capacity-building from networking that generates visibility but little commercial progress.
Institutional trust remains essential. Transparent regulations, predictable procedures and accessible channels for resolving business concerns ensure that opportunities depend on capability and fair competition rather than privileged personal connections.
Investing in the relationships behind growth
Vietnam’s economic partnership with the United States is entering a phase in which advanced technology, clean energy and sustainable supply chains are increasingly prominent. These sectors require more than capital and equipment. They depend on collaboration among companies, suppliers, educational institutions, public agencies and communities.
Social assets can help connect these participants, enabling the sharing of knowledge across organisational boundaries and helping smaller businesses to develop capabilities that would otherwise be difficult for them to acquire alone.
Yet social assets are not inherently inclusive. Networks can exclude outsiders, concentrate opportunities and reinforce existing inequalities. The value of these networks for development depends on how they are governed, who can access them and whether relationships translate into measurable economic opportunities.
For multinational companies, investing in local relationships can support stronger supply chains and more resilient operations. For SMEs, the challenge is to turn those relationships into knowledge, credibility and commercial capability. For governments, the task is to build transparent institutions that allow cooperation to flourish without making personal access a prerequisite for success.
The summit’s significance will ultimately depend not only on the trade it facilitates or the investments it attracts, but also on whether more domestic businesses can participate meaningfully in the value those investments create.
Capital can establish a presence in a market. Social assets can help connect that presence to the capabilities of the wider economy. Inclusive growth emerges when those connections create lasting opportunities for businesses and communities beyond the largest firms.
Elena Nguyen is the Founder of The Good WE, a community dedicated to advancing inclusive growth through education, women’s empowerment and inclusive business. She also serves as an Advisory Board Member of the Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability Club (PACA Vietnam), contributing her expertise in public affairs, cross-cultural engagement and sustainability to promote responsible business practices and sustainable development.
