Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue at the VEPF 2017 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam E-Payment Forum (VEPF) 2017 opened in Hanoi on November 6, during which participants focused on the development of an ecosystem for cashless payment in Vietnam.
Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue underscored the significance of digital technology application, saying that it helps remove barriers in space, time and geographic gap, allowing credit institutions to supply products and services at lower prices and creating easy access for customers, he noted.
Like many countries, Vietnam has pursued a target of reducing rich-poverty gap, dealing with social and environment issues, ensuring that people in all walks of life benefit from economic development achievements, and heading to sustainable growth, said Hue.
He also stressed the need to connect all sectors, ministries and relevant agencies in coping with difficulties facing e-payment and mobile payment, thus developing non-cash payment in Vietnam.
According to Nguyen Kim Anh, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), IT application in the banking sector has helped promoted progress in the sector’s operation as well as payment activities in particular, thus expanding access of banking services and improving governing capacity of credit institutions.
At the forum, Executive Chairman of the Chinese Alibaba Group Jack Ma shared his experience in e-commerce and e-payment via mobile devices in China as well as the globalization process of Alibaba.
He held that in Vietnam, these services are being hindered by the hesitation of users.
Telling the story of AliPay, Alibaba’s payment application, Jack Ma said that when it was introduced 10 years ago, the initiative was doubted by many people. He stressed the significance of new ideas in launching startups, as well as the need for governments to create space for startups’ development.
Thomas Ko, General Management of Samsung Pay, said that Samsung aims to simplify payments using smartphones. He also underscored that convenience must go with safety.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Hung said that Vietnam’s modern telecommunications infrastructure is facilitating the growth of other economic sectors.
Vietnam has over 120 million mobile service subscribers, with 53 percent of the population accessing the Internet, ranking 15th in the world. At the same time, 50 million smart phones are operating in 2017, he noted.
SBV Deputy Governor Anh said that a legal framework for e-payment is crucial.
Sharing Anh’s idea, Deputy PM Hue said that the trend of e-payment may bloom in Vietnam in the future. He asked ministries and sectors to develop e-payment in managing the informal economy.-VNA
VNA
