In the past, the country was dominated by foreign digital platforms, but that has changed. The domestic market has witnessed the strong rise of Vietnam-made platforms in recent years.

Tran Minh Tuan, director of the Department of Digital Economy and Digital Society under the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), said the number of monthly users of digital platforms via mobile apps in Vietnam surpassed 500 million in the first six months of 2023, an increase of 16 percent over the same period last year.

The upward trend shows Vietnamese users’ interest in Make-in-Vietnam platforms.

MIC reported that there are about 60 platforms and mobile apps with more than 1 million monthly users, up 10 percent over the same period last year.

Among the Vietnamese-run digital platforms, Zalo is the best known with 74 million users monthly. It is also the most influential digital platform in Vietnam, with the number of users accounting for 75.5 percent of the total population.

Of the 16 apps with regular monthly users of over 20 million, there are three Vietnamese ones -- Zalo, Zing Mp3, and MoMo e-wallet, accounting for 18.75 percent.

Among the group of 12 apps with the number of regular users of 10-20 million, there are also Vietnamese names, such as Bao Moi, Vietcombank, Tiki, My Viettel, and MB Bank.

Tuan noted that digital transformation must rely on digital platforms. In cyberspace, those who hold digital platforms hold the data. So, if Vietnam doesn’t rely on Vietnam-made digital platforms, the major beneficiaries from digital transformation won’t be the Vietnamese people. 

To encourage the establishment and development of digital platforms, MIC will join forces with ministries and branches to approve national digital platforms, platforms that serve businesses’ transformation, and platforms that serve the public.

In the next step, the ministry will carry out campaigns in mass media, messages and basic information systems to attract people to these digital platforms.

Meanwhile, the network for business digital transformation consulting the and community digital technology group will help businesses digitize using Vietnamese digital platforms.

Vietnam platforms

Emphasizing the importance of Vietnamese platforms, Nguyen Chi Thanh, deputy CEO of Viettel Solutions, said national digital platforms can serve as basic infrastructure, like roads for traffic.

There must be national digital platforms that act the leading role. It takes a lot of money and resources to set up a platform so it will not be feasible if every business builds a platform for itself.

According to Thanh, thanks to concentrated investments, national digital platforms will be strong platforms. The use of commonly shared platforms will help businesses optimize costs in digital transformation. When using platforms, businesses will pay small fees. 

Deputy CEO of VNPT IT Nguyen Duc Kien believes that encouragement by the state to develop Vietnamese platforms will bring two benefits, including high quality and optimization of costs for businesses once the list of commonly used platforms is released.

Nguyen Thuong Tuong Minh, CEO of Base.vn, said digital transformation is based on the combination of three factors – human resources, tools and procedure.

“I completely agree with the view to prioritize investment and modernization of Vietnam's digital platforms, because this is the factor that brings the three 'weapons' to businesses, which are speed, leanness and data," Minh said. 

He said that platforms developed by Vietnamese technology firms in recent years did well in the first period of digital transformation, which focused on supporting businesses to go digital. In this period, the major benefit of technology was helping divisions in enterprises interact with each other and operate effectively from a distance. This was done well during the pandemic.

Trong Dat