A meeting reviewing the 3-year implementation of the Make in Vietnam Digital Technology Product Award was held several days ago. This is an annual award held since 2020 aiming to honor the digital technology products researched, designed, created and produced in Vietnam. It is considered the ‘launching pad’ for Vietnam’s digital technology.

Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, deputy head of the Authority of Information Technology Application (AITA), said over the last three years, the Make in Vietnam award has been implemented in a methodical, open and transparent way which can satisfy requirements in quality. 

To date, the organizing board has received 707 applications for the award, 488 of which can meet the criteria.

Commenting about the impact of the award, AITA said from the perspective of enterprises, Make in Vietnam has become a prestigious brand of national stature in the field of digital technology. 

With Make in Vietnam, the brand and fame of award winners improved, and their images became more professional.

Some Make in Vietnam award winners such as Base.vn and Misa AMIS have had high growth rates of 200-300 percent. Base.vn has successfully attracted investments with large capital.

However, AITA noted that the number of applications for attending the Make in Vietnam award in the third year was lower than in the first year. 

The award still cannot mobilize all the resources of information technology firms, especially software and service export firms.

Meanwhile, the benefits that award winners receive remain unclear. Many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) don’t know about the award, or they hesitate to attend the competition for fear that only large firms can win prizes. 

Also, the budget for organizing the award remains low, which makes it difficult to organize an event considered to be the most prestigious award of Vietnam's IT industry.

Nguyen Van Khoa, CEO of FPT, Chair of the Vietnam Software & IT Services (Vinasa) said that the award by MIC surely has higher significance than the awards given by associations.

“It is much more difficult to research and develop products than implementing IT services. Therefore, I think it is necessary to honor Make in Vietnam products right from the product development process,” Khoa said.

The representative of Vinasa has asked MIC to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese firms to connect international experts for consultancy, thus helping bring Make in Vietnam products to all over the globe. There should be a mechanism to encourage SMEs to participate in the competition and glory them with suitable prizes.

Van Anh