It's been two years since the Covid-19 pandemic turned the world upside down. The usual daily life is restricted, but that was the impetus for the new normal such as "no contact" and "social distancing" to appear.

The top three rappers in Vietnam, LK, Datmaniac and B Ray, have joined the blockchain world. In addition, many other big names in the Vietnamese music industry have negotiated with partners to release NFTs in the near future.

Startup Selly, Vietnam's social commerce model, has raised $2.6 million in a Pre-Series A funding round from investment funds CyberAgent Capital, Do Ventures, Genesia Ventures, JAFCO Asia and KVision.

As a fundamental part of its Socioeconomic Development Plan until 2025, Vietnam is set to boost digital transformation and foster a digital economy in the service of individuals and businesses,

After a successful year with many contributions to the macro-economy and supply of goods during the pandemic, e-commerce platforms continued to be recognized in terms of brand recognition in 2021 in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

A quick survey of businesses via the webinar "FPT eCovax – the digital solution for businesses to overcome the pandemic" found three major problems that businesses are facing now.

Nguyen Van Than, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, said up to 70% of Vietnamese small and medium enterprises are outside the digital economy, and only about 20% are learning about it.

Data governance capacity, access to capital, information, and a search for experts are major barriers to Vietnam's digital transformation, besides the high costs.

Covid-19 is a catalyst that drives demand for digital infrastructure.

Even though it launched rather late, MediaTek knows how to enter niche markets neglected by giants like Samsung, Apple or Qualcomm.

The current method of calculating the scale of the digital economy only reaches the core, while digital transformation is spreading strongly into many industries and fields.

With certain advantages in terms of society and people, Vietnam has the opportunity to close the gap in AI technology with the rest of the world.

Experts say that with the growth in both the total value of goods and the number of users, Vietnam's e-commerce had a successful year, according to a report from Lazada.

Under the normal development scenario, the Vietnamese digital economy will only reach 10.5 per cent of GDP by 2025.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is taking place around the world with a boom in digital technology, creating great opportunities for but also challenges to the development of each country, enterprise, and person.

In an interview with Bloomberg recently, Binh Tran - co-founder of Ascend Vietnam Ventures - said that Vietnam's nascent start-up sector is developing and Vietnam is becoming the next technology hub of Southeast Asia.

The digital economy in Vietnam accounts for about 8.2% of GDP. The development potential of the Internet and digital economy components is still quite large. 

Digital technology is forecast to create US$74 billion for Vietnam's economy by 2027. However, Vietnam must attract investment capital from around the world, especially investment in startups.

Bain & Company, in association with Tech for Good Institute – TFGI, has released a report on the platform economy in Southeast Asia, focusing on the Vietnamese market.

The Ministry of Information and Communications has submitted to the Government a draft Strategy for developing Vietnam’s digital economy and digital society, which may be approved this December.