Vietnam aims for the digital technology industry to lead the implementation of Industry 4.0 in the country, with revenue growth 2.5 times higher than the overall GDP expansion rate.

The target was revealed in the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)’s directive for information and communication technology (ICT) development in 2023 and the 2024-2025 period.

"Digital technology focused on design, creation, and manufacturing in Vietnam is the main industrial sector driving the nation's industrialization and modernization, contributing to greater digitalization capability and shaping a digital country," the MIC stated.

Under the plan, the ministry expected revenue from the ICT sector would hit US$165 billion in 2023, eventually rising to $185 billion by 2025.

In this sense, digital technology companies would contribute between 6 and 6.5% to overall GDP growth over the next three years, together with ICT industrial exports that would amount to 137,000 million dollars in 2023 and 160,000 million in 2025.

In 2022, revenue from Vietnam’s ICT sector hit $148 billion, representing an increase of 8.7% year on year. The contribution of the industry to GDP was estimated at $34.3 billion, up 8.7%.

Meanwhile, the country’s exports of hardware and electronic products rose by 11.6% in 2022 to $136 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $26 billion in the sector, a significant improvement from a modest $4 billion in 2021.

According to the MIC, the total number of digital tech firms in 2022 was 70,000, up 9.6% year on year, 60% of which are moving up from engaging in low-value production processes to those of higher value.

In addition, local firms earned revenue of over $2.2 billion from foreign markets for exporting software and IT services.

The MIC highlighted the rising number of R&D projects from foreign investors in Vietnam such as Samsung, Qualcomm, Panasonic, and Intel.

By 2025, the MIC expected Vietnam to have 80,000 digital tech firms, meeting at least 50% of digital tech and services from state agencies.

Another priority is to have 10 major IT firms with international competitiveness and revenue of over $1 billion each, along with at least eight provinces/cities with ITC revenue of over $1 billion.

“Vietnam should be among the top five countries in terms of revenue from software, IT services, and mobile games development,” it stated.

Supporting the development of ICT firms

To realize these goals, the MIC expects the Government’s support for local IT firms to expand their reach globally.

On the domestic front, the MIC would finalize the legal framework for ICT development, focusing on helping local companies enhance their product quality, branding, and workforce.

For 2023, the MIC gives priority to drafting an action plan for Vietnam’s ICT development until 2025, with a vision to 2030, and a strategy for the establishment of a semi-conductor industrial sector until 2030, with a vision to 2035.

It aims to form ICT hubs to attract investment capital in the production of electronics, IoT, and AI products in the provinces of Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Ba Ria – Vung Tau, while forming close links between Vietnamese IT firms with global tech giants such as Samsung or LG.

During the 2024-2025 period, Vietnam would be able to master digital techs and develop new products and services related to AI, IoT, BigData, could computing, 5G, and future generation networks.