An Access Partnership Analytics' survey of 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific  found that they successfully exploited just 30% of the potential of their digital economy.

The survey was conducted in 2021 with data collected in Australia, India, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 

Accordingly, the scale of the digital economy of these countries was $586 billion, but if fully exploited, the benefits from the digital economy could be up to $1.4 trillion.

Vietnam had 10% of GDP associated with the digital economy. The scale of Vietnam's digital economy was $7 billion, accounting for 17.5% of potential.

According to the report, if fully exploiting the benefits of the digital economy, all of these countries could earn a total of $2.2 trillion by 2030. For Vietnam, the figure would be $91 billion by 2030.

Vietnam is at a high level of readiness in building digital infrastructure, but the service delivery capacity must be improved, while competition indicators and policy factors remain at the potential level, according to Access Partnership Analytics.

At the recent National Forum on Developing Digital Technology Enterprises in Vietnam (Make in Vietnam Forum), leading experts said that investing in digital infrastructure development is the right way to promote the digital economy.

Compared to other countries in the region, Vietnam has a great advantage thanks to its geopolitical position, young population, and fast-growing technology ecosystem. But the country has not fully exploited its potential.

It is shown through the number of undersea cable systems in Vietnam (8) compared to that of Singapore (30) and Malaysia (20). If Vietnam wants to become a "digital hub" of the region, it must have more undersea fiber optic cables.

Vietnam has not yet activated an open innovation ecosystem. This is a new concept, which encourages businesses and organizations to use external resources to improve services.

Vietnam should have specific policies, for example, exempting personal income tax in the ICT sector for 10 years to attract talents. It is necessary to have the highest priority and preferential policies for businesses investing in digital infrastructure; to encourage the use of domestic products and services and train and develop digital human resources.

Trong Dat