Minister Nguyen Manh Hung. Photo: Trong Dat

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) yesterday held a conference to outline orientations for the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector ahead in 2021 and beyond.

In his opening speech, Minister Hung said that humans are living in both a fast changing and unpredictable world where they move from the real world to the digital world. In the move from the real world to the digital world, great challenges and great opportunities always go hand in hand. Digital technology, digital transformation and the media play a particularly important role in this transformation. This therefore requires the ICT sector to grasp opportunities and address challenges in an effective manner in order to meet the ambitions set out in the “Make-in-Vietnam” strategy.

The ICT sector has never had such a big mission as it has now. And this is also a rare opportunity for the ICT industry to reposition itself, to realize challenges and identify new living spaces that are decisive for development, he said.

Great achievements

The ICT sector’s achievements in recent years made specific contributions to making Vietnam a powerful and prosperous country.

In the past 5 years, the postal sector has had unprecedented strong growth with an average rate of over 30% per year. In 2020, the total revenue of postal services reached over VND35 trillion, contributing to the state budget VND2.4 trillion. Vietnam currently has 555 postal businesses; 90% of communes have postal service points; 89% of postal service points have an Internet connection.

Vietnam can manufacture up to 90% of network safety and security products. Photo: Trong Dat

2020 was the year Vietnam started implementing the national digital transformation program. Based on digital platforms, online public services at level 4 increased dramatically in 2020, reaching over 30%, exceeding the set target. So far, 5 ministries and 28 provinces and cities have issued resolutions and plans to implement digital transformation.

One of the biggest successes of Vietnam in 2020 is the comprehensive universalization of awareness of digital transformation in society. This is reflected in the participation of the entire population against the Covid-19 epidemic.

In the past 5 years, Vietnam's telecommunications industry also developed spectacularly. The proportion of people using mobile phones increased sharply. Vietnam ranked 2nd in ASEAN, 4th in Asia and 10th in the world for the use of 6th generation (IPv6) Internet addresses on.

Telecommunication enterprises contributed to the State budget an average of over VND40 trillion a year. Vietnam's telecommunications ranking increased by 31 spots, from 108th in 2018 to 77th in 2020.

The rapid development of 5G is the most impressive feature of Vietnam's telecommunications industry in 2020. In December 2020, 5G commercial service was tested in Vietnam and this added Vietnam to the group of pioneers in the 5G race around the world.

Online public services have become popular in Vietnam. Photo: Trong Dat

2020 was the year Vietnam successfully hosted the online Digital World Exhibition and Conference 2020, with the participation of 150 countries and economies.

In 2020, campaigns to scan and remove malware on a large scale were effectively deployed. The country ranked second in Southeast Asia, after Singapore, for mobile malware control.

The MIC initially launched the “Make-in-Vietnam” strategy in 2019, with the primary goal of developing 100,000 digital technology enterprises which serve as the cornerstone for the Vietnamese digital transformation process.

At present, a total of 60,000 enterprises have been established, a rise of 28% compared to the pre-2019 period.

Global ranking increases in various subfields of the industry have been the proof of this contribution. The post rose from the 57th position to 49th, ICT from 108th to 77th, e-government from 89th to 86th, and cybersecurity from 100th to an impressive position of 50th.

With the introduction of the scheme ‘Make in Vietnam’, the number of businesses in the field has witnessed a development of 28 percent. Human resources in the ICT industry grew from 780,000 people to over 1 million. Remarkably, the post has maintained its average revenue growth of 30 percent per year.

More importantly, Vietnam now stands at the second position in the world for mobile phone and parts manufacturing, and tenth in electronic parts production. These two have helped ICT become the industry with the largest export surplus in the Vietnamese economy.

Most notably, 2019 alone saw an export surplus in the hardware and electronics industry at an estimated US$28 billion, and Vietnam ranked 13th in the world for digital technology services.

Throughout the 2016 to 2019 period, the country rose to become one of the world’s leading hardware and electronics producers in the telecommunications industry. It also ranked second in terms of manufacturing phones and components, and 10th in manufacturing electronics and components.

These groups of products represent two of the top 10 main Vietnamese export items, making the ICT sector the economy’s largest exporter.

Last year, MIC restructured the press system and focused on fighting fake news. The number of press agencies fell by 71, to 779 in total.

At the event, MIC introduced the Information Portal tingia.gov.vn as well as the Hotline 18008108 to receive reports on fake news related to state and private organizations, businesses, and individuals. The portal also acts as a bulletin board to announce proven fake news and its real counterpart.

The portal is under the management of Vietnam Anti-Fake News Center (VAFC), a member of the Authority of Broadcasting and Electronic Information. The center will receive, detect, and assess the authenticity of reported news, then label it as fake news when needed and post the real version for comparison. The center will regularly update methods to identify and handle fake news as well.

The Ministry of Information and Communications has established a center for handling fake news in Vietnam. Photo: Trong Dat

Also at the meeting, MIC announced its program, co-organized with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, to support small and medium businesses in their digital transformation process, especially during the sensitive time of Covid-19 pandemic.

MIC has evaluated and selected these 12 Make-in-Vietnam platforms taking part in the program, namely MISA ASP, an accounting service platform, Novaon Onfluencer, an online advertising platform, Giga1, a product distribution platform, VnPay and Momo, two online payment platforms, StringeeX, a customer care platform, 1Office, a comprehensive business administration platform, BizFly, a platform for stores and restaurants, EZCloud, a platform for hotels and recreation spots, CyRadar, a cybersecurity platform, Consultant Anywhere, a consultation platform, and Vietnamworks, a recruitment platform.

These platforms plan to offer various incentive policies like free 3-month trial time, a discount of 50 percent for a 1-year contract, free training and consultation sessions. Further information is available at sme.mic.gov.vn and smedx.vn.

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam

Addressing the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that 2020 was a special year given the unexpected difficulties but with spectacular progress made. Vietnam managed to overcome major challenges while strengthening national pride and people’s confidence in the Party and administration.

More importantly, the trust of Vietnamese people inside and outside of the country in the path towards national development was reinforced, he said, attributing the result to the leadership of the Party, the management of the State, and the engagement of the business community and people, especially those working in the information-communications sector.

He called on all IT companies to become involved in programs initiated by the Ministry of Information and Communications by discussing and seeking open platforms based on the practical demands of citizens.

Opportunity to reposition the ICT industry

The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) aims to basically complete the development of e-government in 2021, with the provision of online public services at level 4 and the completion of national databases on population and land, Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said.

The media sector will be developed this year to fully cover events in society, creating consensus and social confidence and driving people’s aspirations for a strong country. The ratio of local people in remote areas accessing at least one form of media is expected to reach 95 percent in 2021 and 100 percent by 2025, he said.

Each Vietnamese is hoped to read 4.5 books in 2021 and 5-5.5 books a year by 2025, while the convergent newsroom model is to be applied to 75 percent of all media agencies in 2021 and 90 percent by 2025.

The minister said that the ratio of people accessing mobile broadband is expected to be over 80 percent in 2021 and 100 percent by 2025.

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