General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Vietnamese President Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized “focusing on innovation, promoting national digital transformation, and developing digital economy and digital society" in his remarks at the opening session of the 13th Party Congress.

This is one of the major orientations covering important development issues of the country in the next 10 years. The General Secretary said that it is necessary to strongly and effectively reform the growth model, restructure the economy, and accelerate industrialization and modernization on the basis of science and technology, innovation and high quality human resources.

Positive moves

The draft political report and draft economic report both set a high goal: digital economy will account for about 20% of Vietnam’s GDP in 2021-2025 and about 30% of GDP by 2030.

The demand to build a digital economy is emphasized in the country's strategic development direction in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic changing everyday activities.

The trend of digital transformation in the economy, in businesses and daily life has emerged in Vietnam in recent years, especially after the promulgation of the Politburo's resolution 52-NQ/TW on a number of policies on Vietnam’s active participation in the 4th Industrial Revolution.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the structure of global and regional markets, encouraging enterprises to conduct more thoroughly the transition to a digital economy. The government has moved positively to digital government to be compatible with business efforts.

In June 2020, the Prime Minister approved Decision No.749/QD-TTg on "National digital transformation program to 2025, with orientation to 2030". The program points out specific objectives and solutions for each sector and each field.

In the past few years, Vietnam has achieved important milestones in the process of promoting the digital economy.

Vietnam is one of the first countries in the world to develop a 5G network. Vietnam stands out for digital advancement in the Asia-Pacific region as assessed by GSMA Intelligence.

With an average rate of 27% in the 2015-2020 period, Google, Temasek and Brain & Company ranked Vietnam second in ASEAN in terms of digital economic growth, with the digital economy estimated at around $14 billion in 2020.

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong emphasized “focusing on innovation, promoting national digital transformation, and developing digital economy and digital society". Photo: VNA

Seizing opportunities

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused an explosion in demand for Internet use from the Vietnamese people. All Internet-based industries grew strongly in 2020 compared to the previous year: e-commerce rose 46%, and online communication 18%. Investment in the Internet industry last year also exploded, with 151 transactions worth $935 million.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Vietnam ranked 42 out of 131 countries and economies, holding the first position in the group of 29 countries with the same income level in the global innovation index.

The e-government model has developed very quickly, including services connected to the National Public Service Portal and National Single Window system. Seven out of 12 ministries have provided online public services at level 3 and level 4. More than 99% of active enterprises performed online tax declarations and tax payments.

There are also other services and pilot platforms to support businesses on digital platforms, such as online dispute resolutions.

These preliminary results are very encouraging, promising a faster and more substantial digital transformation in the country.

The Covid-19 pandemic has seriously affected the world and its consequences will last for many years. However, the pandemic has also created great opportunities for the development of the digital economy. Science and technology is developing rapidly, and the fourth industrial revolution and the digital economy have become major development trends of the era.

Vietnam will make a breakthrough if it grasps this opportunity and catches up with this trend.

Lan Anh

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