The success of world-leading enterprises in strategic industries such as Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, ASML or Airbus... in Western countries comes not only from the competitive environment and innovation capacity of enterprises, but also supported by long-term policies on science, technology, education and capital market development.
The State plays a role in creating a healthy competitive environment
The US and many European countries are considered developed market economies, where businesses mainly develop through competition, innovation and market adaptability.
Instead of directly selecting a number of businesses to focus resources on support as the model that has appeared in some Northeast Asian economies during the industrialization period, Western countries focus on building a competitive environment where all businesses have the opportunity to access capital, technology and markets if they prove their capacity.
That foundation is formed from many factors: a legal system protecting property rights and intellectual property rights, a developed capital market, transparent competition policies, and a network of leading universities and research institutes in the world. These are conditions that help new ideas quickly access resources to develop into large-scale businesses.
Moreover, many foundational technologies of today's digital economy, from the Internet, GPS navigation systems to semiconductor technologies, artificial intelligence or aerospace, all bear the imprint of research programs invested or funded by the State for many years before being commercialized by businesses.
Recent policies such as the US CHIPS and Science Act or the European Union Chip Act continue to show the trend of governments actively investing in core technology industries to maintain a competitive advantage in the context of increasing geopolitical and technological competition. The role of the State is therefore shifting from "business choice" to creating a long-term environment and competitiveness.
This environment and support have created conditions for many leading enterprises in strategic industries such as Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, ASML or Airbus to rise up, forming a force of enterprises with sufficient scale, innovation capacity and influence to become "national enterprises" in the true sense: both competing successfully in the international market and contributing to strengthening the country's competitiveness.
When businesses become a strategic asset of the nation
When rising to the leading position in strategic industries, National Enterprises are no longer just business organizations that generate revenue, profit or jobs. They gradually become actors holding core technology, leading innovation, coordinating supply chains and shaping the standards of many economic sectors globally.
According to the OECD, the business sector currently accounts for the largest proportion of total spending on research and development (R&D) in most developed economies.
Leading technology and industrial corporations such as Apple, Microsoft, NVIDIA, ASML or Airbus invest tens of billions of USD each year in research, creating new technologies, and attracting an ecosystem of thousands of businesses, research institutes and partners to participate in innovation.
Not only are they the center of R&D activities, leading enterprises also play a coordinating role in global-scale supply chains. An Apple product can mobilize hundreds of suppliers in many countries; Airbus connects a production network spanning Europe; and ASML becomes an almost irreplaceable link in the global semiconductor industry value chain. The scale and spillover effect of these enterprises create motivation for the development of thousands of satellite enterprises, contributing to improving the production capacity of the entire economy.
The influence of leading enterprises is no longer limited to the economic field. They contribute to expanding export markets, attracting international investment, promoting technology transfer and building the national image in the international arena.
In many cases, a country's competitiveness in fields such as semiconductor, artificial intelligence, aviation or pharmaceuticals is directly reflected in the position of leading enterprises in these industries.
Therefore, as global competition is increasingly linked to technology and supply chains, Western governments are also increasingly considering maintaining the capacity of strategic enterprises as part of economic development and national security policies.
That does not mean that the State replaces the market, but reflects the awareness that the strength of the modern economy depends increasingly on the ability to maintain businesses with global competitiveness, which are indispensable "National Enterprises" in every developed economy, regardless of whether it is a private enterprise or a state-owned enterprise.
