The workshop held by the Vietnam National Innovation Centre and Google (Photo: VNA) The information was unveiled in a report on potential of Vietnam’sdigital economy, which was presented at a recent workshop held in Hanoi.
Conducted by strategic economics consultancy company AlphaBeta,the report showed that Vietnam has many opportunities to benefit from thedigital economy.
Accordingly, the young, educated and tech-savvy population accountsfor 70 percent of its citizens under 35 years old. The literacy rate in the15-35 age group is over 98 percent, higher than the average global rate of 91percent. About 70 percent of the population uses smart phones. Vietnam alsohas the second fastest growing Internet economy in Southeast Asia afterIndonesia.
The report, meanwhile, pointed out a number of barriers inexploiting benefits from digital technology, including regulatory requirements,digital connectivity, and a shortage of digitally skilled human resources.
Co-organised by the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s VietnamNational Innovation Centre (NIC) and Google, the workshop reviewed the currentsituation and possible development of Vietnam's digital economy, as well as mechanismsand policies to promote its growth.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Planning and InvestmentTran Duy Dong said in the context of being severely affected by the COVID-19pandemic, Vietnam needs to accelerate the digital economy's development on thebasis of science-technology and innovation to improve the quality of life,productivity, efficiency and competitiveness.
World Bank Lead Economist for Vietnam Jacques Morisset recommended that it is necessary forVietnam to focus on upgrading digital skills for workers, encouragingbusinesses’ innovation, and enhancing the accessibility and quality ofinformation.
NIC Director Vu Quoc Huy said the centre has cooperated withpartners such as Google and Amazon to organise online training and capacitybuilding programmes in technology, e-commerce application, and digital transformation for domestic businesses.
He noted the building and implementation of more programmesto support innovation for businesses will be done in the time to come./.
VNA
