In 2021, Vietnam recorded 5,600 newly established digital technology businesses, stemming from the need to work, sell, and communicate online amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Deputy Director of Information Technology Department, Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, explained that statistics show that Vietnam currently has about 64,000 digital technology enterprises with more than one million employees. The working environment and non-contact economy due COVID-19 sped up and strengthened digital transformation as well as promoted the digital business community.
The official informed that the number of Make-in-Vietnam businesses has increased sharply. In 2020, there were more than 34 platforms announced by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) as Make-in-Vietnam products. Many information security products had been also launched by Vietnamese enterprises. Digital technology enterprises such as VNPT, Viettel, CMC, and FPT made great contributions to the development of digital government and digital economy with the construction of national digital platforms.
According to a news report, in 2021, with the Ministry’s leadership, Vietnamese businesses have researched new technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), and big data. Deputy Minister, Pham Duc Long, stated that Make-in-Vietnam enterprises included both Vietnamese enterprises foreign enterprises investing, researching, and manufacturing in Vietnam. The country’s digital technology industry has also achieved impressive growth results. In 2020, due to the impact of the pandemic, the world economy witnessed negative growth. Vietnam achieved a GDP growth rate of 2.91% and became one of the few economies with positive growth. Vietnam’s digital technology industry had a growth rate of over 9%, which was three times higher than GDP growth.
Long said currently, Vietnamese digital technology enterprises had not only processed and assembled products for foreign countries, with the spirit of Make-in-Vietnam, but also manufactured and mastered products and platforms for the country’s digital transformation. With the spirit of Make-in-Vietnam, the products of local digital technology enterprises had been used and brought about many benefits. He gave specific examples of digital transformation in public services and document management systems in localities, implemented by Make-in-Vietnam firms. The smart city management centres in 38 localities had been built by Vietnamese digital technology enterprises. Meanwhile, in the economic sector, Viettel Post and Postmart (Vietnam Post) are two e-commerce platforms completely Make-in-Vietnam, which have helped farmers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vietnam is expected to be the fastest-growing e-commerce market in Southeast Asia by 2026, with e-commerce gross merchandise value (GMV) reaching US$56 billion by 2026, 4.5 times the estimated value of 2021, according to a recent survey. OpenGov Asia reported recently that Vietnam is at the forefront of driving change and seizing opportunities to thrive based on digital transformation in a post-pandemic future. A study surveyed about 16,700 digital consumers and more than 20 C-level employees in six Southeast Asian countries, including 3,579 survey participants from Vietnam. The report described Southeast Asia as a leader of digital transformation in the Asia-Pacific region and Vietnam as one of the best performers. In Vietnam, seven out of ten consumers have digital access, and the country will have 53 million digital consumers by the end of 2021.