This was an event on the sidelines of the ITU Digital World 2021 hosted by Vietnam.

At the talks, the story about Vietnam's role and position in the digital era, the digital transformation process and Vietnam's post-pandemic steps attracted the attention of domestic and international managers, experts and businesses.

At the "Why Vietnam?" talks held by the Ministry of Information and Communications in Hanoi. Photo: Trong Dat

Many people still think that Vietnam is a small country but from the perspective of IT-communication industry development, where is Vietnam on the world map?

Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, Deputy Director of Information Technology Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications:

There are many countries in the world larger than Vietnam in terms of area, but Vietnam has a large population, a GDP that ranks 40th in the world and 4th in ASEAN.

In the field of IT, we have surpassed many IT powerhouses, some of which have reached the top 10 in the world. We rank 2nd in the world for manufacturing and exporting phones, accounting for 13.3% of the world market in 2019. Regarding electronics exports, Vietnam ranks 9th in the world.

Vietnam is also highly appreciated and ranks 9th in the world for outsourcing. Another area that is also growing strongly is online game production. It can be seen through the fact that blockchain game Axie Infinity has become a global phenomenon. Vietnam currently ranks 6th in the world in the field of computer games.

Based on these things, we can see that Vietnam is rising strongly in the ICT industry. Vietnam also has a strategy to continue to develop further.

Where is Vietnam in the global supply chain?

Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, Deputy Director of Information Technology Department of the Ministry of Information and Communications (left). Photo: Trong Dat

Ho Chi Dung, Deputy General Director in charge of telecommunications network development of Samsung Vina:

Vietnam's role and position in the global supply chain is extremely important. Every year, Samsung produces about 180 million electronic devices ranging from phones to TVs, refrigerators and others. Vietnam accounts for 60% of Samsung's total global equipment output.

In recent years, Samsung has won several billion-US dollar bid packages for telecommunications and 5G equipment. However, few people know that 90% of those devices are manufactured in Vietnam. This shows Vietnam's position in the global supply chain.

Samsung believes that Vietnam will continue to play a huge role in the world economy. Therefore, Samsung has continued to commit to investing, even in the most valuable industries in the supply chain.

Currently, Samsung has more than 2,000 R&D engineers working in Vietnam. The company is also building a new headquarters in Hanoi. It is expected that this headquarters will come into operation by the end of 2022 with about 3,000 engineers. Samsung's story is proof that Vietnam's role in the global supply chain is huge.

Ho Chi Dung, Deputy General Director in charge of telecommunications network development of Samsung Vina. Photo: Trong Dat

What policies should Vietnam prioritize in e-commerce to participate more deeply in the globalization process?

Vu Thi Minh Tu, Director of Public Relations, Lazada Vietnam:

E-commerce has provided a playground to help sellers approach buyers more conveniently thanks to the advantage of technology. In order for e-commerce to bring into full play its role to help Vietnamese businesses reach out to the world, it is necessary to have a number of policy priorities as follows.

Firstly, there should be policies to support small and medium enterprises so that they will have a better capacity to grasp the requirements of the market to adjust their production and business and to have digital skills to take advantage of e-commerce to transform into a digital business model.

Secondly, whether in e-commerce or traditional commerce, the logistics system plays an extremely important role. Therefore, it is necessary to have policies to encourage the development of Vietnam's logistics system.

Vu Thi Minh Tu, Director of Public Relations, Lazada Vietnam. Photo: Trong Dat

Innovation has become a criterion to measure the development of countries. Where is the innovation capacity of Vietnamese enterprises compared to the world?

Thieu Phuong Nam, General Director of Qualcomm Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia:

Vietnam plays a very important role in the value chain of the global technology industry. Qualcomm has opened an R&D center in Hanoi. This is Qualcomm's first R&D center in Southeast Asia.

The fact that Vietnam is one of the first countries in the region and the world to test and deploy 5G is a clear demonstration of the capacity of the Vietnamese people.

We are very impressed with the 5G development plan of the Vietnamese government. I think 5G infrastructure is very important to promote innovation and help Vietnamese companies access the best environment.

We have worked with many carriers and device manufacturers. Qualcomm highly appreciates the capacity of Vietnamese companies in the field of innovation.

Many products of Vietnamese technology companies have been proven not only in Vietnam but also in the world. Smartphone products and AI cameras of Vietnam are used in other countries. We have great faith in the potential of Vietnamese companies in the technology sector.

Digital transformation will create a new space with a borderless market, where the government will play a pioneering role. What has Vietnam done to accelerate this process?

Tran Thi Quoc Hien, Deputy Director of Information Department, Ministry of Information and Communications:

The Vietnamese Government has issued the National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with a vision to 2030, consisting of three main pillars: digital government, digital economy, and digital society.

Vietnam will perform digital transformation in eight fields including: healthcare, education, banking and finance, agriculture, transportation & logistics, energy, environmental resources and industrial production.

Vietnam's national digital transformation program aims at the dual goal of developing digital government, digital economy, and digital society, but also forming Vietnamese digital technology enterprises capable of going global.

The main point of this program is that awareness plays a decisive role in digital transformation. People are at the heart of digital transformation. Institutions are the driving force of digital transformation. Developing digital platforms is a breakthrough solution to accelerate digital transformation, reduce costs and increase efficiency.

How have businesses been participating in the digital transformation process in Vietnam?

Nguyen Lam Thanh, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Digital Media Association, Representative of Tik Tok in Vietnam:

TikTok is a young business. We are only 5 years old now and have been in Vietnam for three years. Currently, TikTok has about 1 billion monthly users.

TikTok is designed as an entertainment platform with the role of bringing creativity to the community. Although it is an entertainment platform, there are currently about 300-400 million views of educational content on TikTok.

TikTok in Vietnam is also serving the promotion of products for many businesses. From the story of TikTok, we can see the huge potential of digital transformation.

Users, individual business households and small businesses will conduct digital transformation first and then large enterprises. The transition is irreversible and is happening at a rapid pace.

Vu Thi Minh Tu, Director of Public Relations, Lazada Vietnam:

In the first two waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, Lazada helped 110,000 Vietnamese businesses in digital transformation and doing business on the e-commerce platform.

During the shopping festival on September 9, Lazada's total revenue doubled compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, the total number of orders has tripled. This is a very encouraging figure, reflecting the development of e-commerce as well as the digital transformation process in Vietnam.

Nguyen Lam Thanh, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Digital Media Association, Representative of Tik Tok in Vietnam. Photo: Trong Dat

What is the role of technology in pandemic prevention and control, economic recovery, and in the new normal life?

Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, Deputy Director of Information Technology Department, Ministry of Information and Communications:

When the pandemic broke out in the southern provinces, all activities of people were suddenly stopped. People could not go to school, work or even go to the market. However, in a short time, many domestic digital technology enterprises came up with solutions to make the impossible possible.

People and businesses have transformed their business models, ways of thinking, working and living to ensure safety and maintain development. In the coming time, digital technology businesses need to continue to join hands with the country to recover and develop the economy.

Vu Thi Minh Tu, Director of Public Relations, Lazada Vietnam:

Technology is playing an increasingly essential role in disease prevention and economic recovery. E-commerce will help limit direct contact, people can stay at home to order goods and wait for shippers to bring them to their home.

For economic recovery, e-commerce will help businesses, cooperatives, and households diversify their sales channels. They can sell goods online and reach new, larger and more diverse markets. This is a way to help these subjects do business more effectively to quickly recover and develop the post-pandemic economy.

Nguyen Lam Thanh, Vice Chairman of Vietnam Digital Media Association, Representative of Tik Tok in Vietnam:

As soon as the Covid-19 epidemic broke out last year, TikTok organized a campaign to change people's hand washing habits.

After only a few days, many countries used Vietnam's "hand washing dance" to deliver the message about proper hand washing. In Vietnam, there were about 300 million views of videos about the "hand washing dance".

When staying at home, mental health is sometimes more important than physical health. TikTok collaborated with the Ministry of Health to launch the program "Staying at home is fun," which created 2 million videos with nearly 40 billion views.

To revive the economy, TikTok is working with associations to organize digital marketing training courses for small and medium businesses to help them make effective use of new technology platforms to bring products to consumers.

Thieu Phuong Nam, General Director of Qualcomm Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia:

We clearly see the role of technology, especially connectivity technology, during the pandemic. Around 75% of businesses have had to upgrade their network infrastructure for employees to work from home. New technologies such as WiFi Mesh, WiFi 6 and especially 5G have been strongly applied during the pandemic.

Currently, the world has about 160 operators deploying 5G commercially. The Covid-19 pandemic has made the application of technology go much faster, especially mobile technology. 5G technology is being deployed twice as fast as previous 4G technology.

Even if the world controls the Covid-19 epidemic, digital transformation activities will become the new normal.

Currently, the logistics cost in Vietnam is very high. We can apply 5G to increase the efficiency of warehouse use and reduce costs. In terms of production, with low latency, Vietnam can use 5G to build smart factory solutions.

Overall, in order to recover the economy and start the new normal, the early and wide deployment of 5G in Vietnam is very important.

Trong Dat

Covid-19 pandemic and the golden season of digital transformation

On September 5, when the Covid-19 outbreak was still rampant, the new school year started online for millions of students. 

Technological autonomy the basis for Vietnam’s success

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung has met with Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Houlin Zhao, who is attending the ITU Digital World 2021 hosted by Vietnam.