Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam spoke at the Vietnam Forum for the Development of Digital Technology Enterprises, held in Hanoi on December 23.

VN enterprises must regain equality in local market

Speaking at the forum, Mr. Dam said that the aspiration of Vietnamese people is to step by step master technology, proactively create new solutions and design and manufacture new products that contain Vietnamese intellectual content.

This year, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has created the message "Make in Vietnam". The slogan aims to promote the development of the domestic ICT industry.

However, Mr. Dam said that this strategy does not imply that Vietnam will do everything by itself, but that Vietnam will always consider itself part of the world.

The success of Vietnam today comes from the open-door policy, the strengthening of international cooperation, and the creation of favorable conditions for all partners to do business in Vietnam. This spirit should be continued in the future, said Deputy PM Dam.

Vietnam currently ranks 15th in the world in terms of population. The Vietnamese market is not very large but is significant in all aspects. Vietnam has attracted many foreign investors and is praised as an attractive destination for foreign businesses.

However, if Vietnamese enterprises do not take the initiative in grasping technology and confidently design and manufacture their own products, they will fail to compete with foreign rivals even at home, Mr. Dam said.

There are two approaches to addressing this inequality. The first is to prevent unequal factors and the second is to help domestic enterprises grow rapidly to gradually regain an equal position.

Deputy Prime Minister Dam said that the first way is very difficult because the world is small and sensitive. Instead, Vietnam should promote the growth of domestic firms to regain equal competitiveness, first of all in the home market. That must be done by those who are living and doing business in Vietnam, regardless of nationality.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam. Photo: Trong Dat

After one year of implementing the Make in Vietnam strategy, Vietnam had an additional 13,000 technology enterprises, doubling the initial target. Among them were "unicorn" companies, and many Vietnamese products and services used by the world. This is evidence that Vietnam can rise if it is confident and well-organized.

Deputy Prime Minister Dam said that although we are not satisfied with the quality of Vietnam's education, many international organizations assessed that Vietnam has good education. The quality of general education in Vietnam has approached standards of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, while the quality of higher education has gradually improved. The products of this education are creative intellectuals.

Vietnam’s ranking for average income is over 100th. For other indexes such as national competitiveness, e-government... it ranks over 70th. However, Vietnam's innovation index is in the top 50, while the education development index is also quite high. This is the basis for Vietnam to be confident that, if we have the right policy and all Vietnamese hold hands together, we can do everything, Mr. Dam said.

He emphasized that Vietnamese have always had patriotism and national pride, which has sparked the creativity and strength of the entire population. This strength has been combined with external forces to overcome great challenges. Vietnam has been among the countries with the top economic growth rates in the world in the past 20 years.

Notably, this year is the first time that Vietnam was ranked 49th in the sustainable development index.

Since 2015, the United Nations has had an agenda for sustainable development with 17 big goals and 169 small goals. These are goals to realize the common aspirations of humankind. The goals are very consistent with Vietnam’s policies on maintaining peace, preserving nature, and taking care of people, especially vulnerable people.

Vietnam’s ranking for average income is over 100th, but its sustainable development index is in the top 50. This shows the superiority of the country’s institution and policies.

Based on the Make in Vietnam strategy, 13,000 digital technology businesses have been formed.

“We can be confident that the Vietnamese digital business community will contribute to faster and more sustainable development for Vietnam,” said Deputy Prime Minister Dam.

The growth of technology firms must double the country’s growth rate

Over the past 20 years, Vietnam’s growth rate ranked second in the world. The country aims to become a developed and high income country by the country's 100th anniversary. We have to develop faster, but how?

According to Deputy Prime Minister Dam, Vietnam has many things to do. Particularly, it must focus on industries with new motivation to make a breakthrough and get out of linear growth. That's why we talk a lot about start-ups and digital technology businesses.

Vietnam's growth rate has usually reached 6-7% in recent years. This is a high growth rate, but the Prime Minister's Directive has set a target for the growth rate of digital technology businesses to be two times higher.

Vietnamese enterprises must have the desire and enthusiasm to overcome all external difficulties and internal obstacles to be able to compete with big businesses, Mr. Dam said.

He urged local technology firms to focus on sustainable, people-oriented development. The products honored with the "Make in Vietnam digital product" award are aimed at serving the essential needs of people.

Both Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc's letter to Vietnamese digital technology enterprises and the speech by Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung at the forum mentioned the word "pioneer". This is the mission of the post and telecommunications industry in the past and the information and communication industry at present, Mr. Dam emphasized.

The Vietnam Forum for Development of Digital Technology Enterprises. Photo: Trong Dat

According to Deputy Prime Minister Dam, in the 1990s, Vietnam targeted reaching the ratio of 1 fixed phone per 100 residents, which many people thought was impossible. However, by the 2000s, the rate was nearly 2 telephones per 100 people.

According to Deputy Prime Minister Dam, the same question is posed at the present time. "Vietnam's overall economic growth rate is below 10%. The growth target for digital technology enterprise should be set at 15-20% and even more," said Mr. Dam.

He said that if we want the country to develop, technology enterprises must develop faster. Technology must not entirely be Vietnamese, but the models and solutions must be Vietnamese. All of us and the Vietnamese digital business community can do it.

He stressed that for the country’s development, the efforts of the technology business community in particular, businesses in general, and the entire society is necessary.

Mr. Dam said that December 12 will become the day to respond to digital technology businesses. Vietnamese businesses should step together to go fast and far. Vietnam's IT development and digital transformation will contribute to the country's rapid and sustainable development.

Set 'unbelievable' goals to make breakthrough

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung. Photo: Trong Dat

In response to the inspirational speech by Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed that the Ministry of Information and Communications and Vietnamese digital technology enterprises would jointly accept the missions assigned by the Government.

He said that today's world has a paradox: Sometimes easy things are very difficult to do, but that difficult or even impossible tasks can be fulfilled. The increase in telephone rates in Vietnam that the Ministry of Post and Telematics was able to do in the past is an example.

The world is undergoing great changes thanks to technology. We are facing the "singularity" in Mathematics. It is a non-linear world that cannot be deduced from the past to the future. Therefore, Vietnamese digital technology enterprises should set utopian goals to make breakthroughs and turn 'impossible' things into feasible ones.

Trong Dat

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