The Deputy Prime Minister, Vu Dur Damn, said that digital transformation is an opportunity for Vietnam to create greater market value for its businesses, make organisations more efficient, and offer better opportunities for every citizen.
At the Vietnam ICT Summit 2019 in Ha Noi, the Minister also said that although Vietnam is currently growing faster than many countries, both domestically and internationally, its departure point was low. Therefore, it needs to speed up and be more sustainable.
According to a press release, in its current situation, the country has fierce competition in terms of technology, investment capital attraction, and markets. To compete efficiently, it must have aspirations, creativity, and breakthroughs in thought.
The Minister noted that it is often said that Vietnam needs to go straight to 5G networks, artificial intelligence, and blockchain. However, the most important thing is to change habits to overcome difficulties. To do so, it is necessary to focus on building a suitable legal system.
He said businesses will not rush to adopt 4G and 5G networks when the 3G network still offers economic efficiency. Therefore, there have to be policies that support businesses. They must also take social responsibility when applying new technologies.
Businesses must receive direct benefits such as tax incentives, capital, and resources. The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) will work with other ministries to figure out problems in IT application and development, which will be submitted to the government and the Prime Minister for direction and support.
According to a report released in 2017, the impact of digital transformation in the Asia-Pacific region was an increase of about 6% in its GDP. The figure is expected to be 25% this year and 60% by 2021.
Research shows that digital transformation also increased labour productivity by 15% in 2017, which is expected to be 21% by 2020.
At the summit, MIC showed the latest draft version of the National Digital Transformation Project. It shows that digital transformation deeply impacts the structure and relationships in the global economy. Replacing manual labour with automation, capital with knowledge and data, and changing consumption habits as well as the behaviour of the society.
The project sets specific objectives. They are:
- By 2030, Vietnam’s digital economy should grow 20% per year.
- It should be one of the top 20 countries in the world and the top three in ASEAN in the global and regional competitiveness index, respectively.
- It should be on the list of top 50 e-government countries.
- Labour productivity should increase by 8-10% per year.
The Minister of Information and Communications, Nguyen Mạnh Hung, said that digital transformation opens great opportunities for the country. This is a comprehensive change, to every business, every organisation, every citizen, and every field.
It’s a historic shift, once every thousand years. If Vietnam wants to change in the world rankings, it must go fast and take the lead to have a competitive advantage. Digital transformation does not need a lot of facilities but changes in thinking, he said.
He also emphasised five fundamental elements needed for concrete actions, including institution, infrastructure, cybersecurity, platform solutions, and training.
OpenGov reported earlier that digital transformation will open up opportunities for development, mainly in the technology enterprise ecosystem in Vietnam. The MIC Minister said digital transformation does not need many facilities as the major factor is changing mindsets. IT firms play an important role in this process.
These tech enterprises may originate from large commercial and service firms with a high financial capacity and well-known tech firms intending to switch to producing made-in-Vietnam products and start-ups.
The ICT community should further focus on researching and developing products and Vietnamese firms should manufacture high-quality products that are different from foreign ones to compete with their global rivals.