VietNamNet Bridge - When technologies change, policies must change, as in the case of GrabTaxi, many Vietnamese policy makers have said. 

Deputy chair of the National Assembly’s Economics Committee Nguyen Duc Kien has said that policies have to change to adapt to the new circumstances.

The government of Vietnam recently gave the ‘go-ahead’ to the GrabTaxi project on ‘utilizing technologies in management and connection in passenger transport GrabCar’.

GrabTaxi is the only firm which can apply the model on a trial basis in five cities and provinces – Hanoi, HCM City, Da Nang, Khanh Hoa and Quang Ninh.

Vu The Binh, CEO of Netnam JSC, noted that in Vietnam, the information technology (IT) application in Vietnam remains modest which compared with other regional countries such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

“The existence of GrabCar will increase development of the management work to help it catch up with the society development,” he commented.

There will be more and more IT apps in the future, and the management agencies’ job is speeding up the birth of apps to bring higher convenience to people.

Truong Anh Tuan from iWay believes that the model can be applied in many different fields, from hotels and restaurants to rescue services which can bring immediate and long term benefits.

Tuan believes that the models like GrabTaxi would be dominant in the future. GrabTaxi does not need any switchboard or office and telephone network which costs a lot of money. It only needs a server system, software and network which can operate in a stable mode, which allows both taxi drivers and passengers to save their money and time.

Meanwhile, the service quality would improve gradually, because passengers can make comments about service quality. 

“All of this will be impossible without technology,” Tuan said.

Though GrabTaxi’s model has raised controversy and faced strong opposition from traditional taxi firms, it is still becoming more popular in Vietnam. What traditional taxi firms need to do is to cut production costs and offer lower service fees rather than try to protest the new service developed on the basis of high technology.

Bui Danh Lien, chair of the Hanoi Transport Association, also said that he and his family members often use GrabTaxi because of the low service fee. He noted that anything that can bring benefits to users should be advocated by people and recognized by policy makers.

Deputy chair of the National Assembly’s Economics Committee Nguyen Duc Kien also commented that when technology develops, policies have to change accordingly to adapt to the new circumstances.

Viet Ha