“Digital transformation is indispensable for all business fields. Reducing investment in offline business and increasing investments online will be a trend,” Nguyen Hoa Binh, president of NextTech Group, said.

“A new business trend will arise from the Covid-19 crisis,” he said.

The ‘wounds’ caused by the pandemic are so severe that businesses are maintaining online channels at the same time as offline ones.

Chair of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Nguyen Van Than said the pandemic has given businesses a push toward digital transformation. They will have to go online or die if they work with only a traditional model.

According to Than, up to 70 percent of member businesses of the association are going this way. Consultancy firms now provide services online instead of coming to see clients. Online meetings between the association and association members now take place regularly.

Dao Van Hung, director of the Institute of Policy and Development under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), noted that digital transformation is occurring at enterprises, but also at state agencies and other organizations. It is now easy to ask lecturers and students to teach and learn on digital platforms.

Which way to follow?

Vietnam’s businesses have had to rely on production and business for domestic consumption during COVID-19, Binh said.

He said businesses and consumers need to lean on each other to survive the epidemic. Only if demand is stimulated will businesses be able to sell their products.

“Small and micro businesses need to find ways to sell products at this moment, or they will die,” Binh said. “If they suspend business now, they will lose market share to more dynamic rivals."

Dang Hong Anh, chair of the Young Entrepreneur Association, believes that every cloud has a silver lining, and businesses will find opportunities in the pandemic.

At the association, member companies have been encouraged to use each other’s products and share information about markets.

Ha Noi Moi newspaper cited the 2019 e-Conomy Southeast Asia report released by Google, Temasek and US-based global management consultancy Bain, as showing that Vietnam is evolving into one of the most digital of all economies in the ASEAN.

It says as the second fastest-growing digital economy in the region, its value is expected to increase by four times from $12 billion currently to $43 billion in 2025.

Kim Chi 

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