VietNamNet Bridge - Dang Viet Dung, managing director of Uber Vietnam, thinks Vietnam may not catch up with the revolution in the short term, while it remains a question in the medium term. 

Meanwhile, Vu Hoang Lien, chair of the Vietnam Internet Association, believes it isn't likely even in the medium term.

Many experts agree with Lien. At least 67 percent of participants at a workshop on the 4.0 industrial revolution held recently also agreed. 

Lien said Vietnam cannot keep up with the pace of the 4.0 industrial revolution or also the 3.0 revolution.

“The 4.0 revolution is a too big of a challenge,” he said, adding that Vietnam has no other choice, but it is unclear if the gap can be narrowed.

He went on to say that Vietnam can keep up with the pace in consumption, but he doubts it can in terms of creativity and manufacturing.

Meanwhile, Le Dang Doanh, a renowned economist, said Vietnamese enterprises will implement the 4.0 revolution their ways.

“I think there is possibility of Vietnam catching up the 4.0 revolution. However, the revolution would put a lot of pressure on Vietnam to carry out complete reform, or it will lag behind,” Doanh said.

White collar workers to suffer

Truong Gia Binh, president of FPT, the largest Vietnamese information technology group, said it is not blue collar workers, but some white collar workers – engineers, lawyers and doctors – who will see their jobs lost by robots.

“In the first phase of the revolution, the challenge will come to white collar workers. In the next phase, low-cost laborers will suffer,” Binh cited.

Binh thinks that in the 4.0 revolution, Vietnam still has some advantages. 96 percent of Vietnamese enterprises are small and very small ones, which, unlike large conglomerates, can easily adapt to different business fields. Therefore, Vietnamese businesses would be able to reform to fit the new circumstances.

Up to 85 percent of polled businesses in Hanoi showed concern about the 4.0 industrial revolution.

The survey was conducted of 2,000 businesses which are members of the Hanoi Small & Medium Enterprises Association. 

Of the 85 percent of businesses, 55 percent believe the revolution would have a big impact on the Vietnam economy, 23 percent think the impact would be at a normal level, 11 percent think the impct would be moderate, while 10 percent say there would be no impact and 6 percent said they don’t know.

However, 79 percent of businesses said they have not done anything to prepare for the revolution.

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Thanh Mai