Vu Hoang Lien, chair of the Vietnam Internet Association (VIA), cited a report of ITU (the International Telecommunication Union) as saying that the number of internet users globally increased by 100 million in 2023, reaching 5.4 billion, or 67 percent of the world’s population.

According to Wearsocial, as of January 2023, Vietnam had 77.93 million internet users, or 79.1 percent of its population.

SEA 2023 Report released by Google and Temasek says Vietnam’s digital economy is developing and its value will reach $45 billion by 2025. The report also predicts that in 2022-2025, Vietnam’s internet economy will lead the region with the growth rate of 31 percent per annum.

Lien noted that international institutions give positive assessments about the development of Vietnam’s digital economy in general and e-commerce in particular.

Despite layoffs because of recession, international technology giants continue to pour capital into Vietnam, bringing opportunities to IT firms to open a new growth space.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Pham Duc Long said at Internet Day 2023 held some days ago that to have faster growth, Vietnam needs a digital economy. And to have a larger new space, Vietnam needs new driving force of creativity

Digital transformation is a national strategy and new driving force for development. It opens up a new period based on science and technology and innovation, whose foundation is digital creativity.

Long stressed that in order to become a developed country with high income, Vietnam will have to go digital. 

Vietnam is one of the countries with high percentage of internet users buying goods online weekly, over 60 percent, which is higher than the global average level (57.6 percent). Vietnam’s internet economy had a value of $23 billion in 2022 and the figure is expected to reach $49 billion by 2025.

Vietnam’s online goods retail revenue was $14 billion in 2022 and will be $32 billion in 2025. This shows opportunity that the internet has been bringing to Vietnam. The prospect has attracted the attention of many international investors.

However, the weak point of Vietnam is that the internet infrastructure remains limited compared with the number of internet users and the population. Vietnam only has five undersea fiber cable routes, while its number and scale of data centers remains very modest compared with Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

As for cloud computing, Vietnam mainly resells services to foreign platforms, while its internet-connection ecosystem remains small and simple compared with ASEAN’s advanced countries. However, the infrastructure underdevelopment is considered a great opportunity as there are still spaces for development.

According to Long, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has built a legal framework, laid down policies and programs to create a momentum for renovation and development.

The draft Telecommunications Law (amended), about to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval will expand the scope of amendment, adding data center and cloud computing services. It will also contain regulations aiming at fostering the telecommunication infrastructure development.

The plan on information and telecommunications infrastructure development has been submitted by MIC to the government and is expected to get the approval in 2023. The plan sets directions and goals for telecommunications and internet development by 2030, with a vision towards 2050.

MIC has released the 5G commercialization plan which says 5G services will be officially provided in 2024. The ministry is also building a strategy on developing Vietnam’s international fiber cable routes to ensure the sustainable development of digital infrastructure.

MIC has submitted to the Prime Minister the program on providing public telecommunications services to remote areas and supporting needy people, with an aim to be sure that no one will be left behind.

Trong Dat