HCM City has said it aims to become a digital government and smart city by the end of this year. (Photo: VNA) The forum basically focused on how the nation’s biggest city and economic hubcan support firms to achieve digital transformation to help develop a digitaleconomy.
The annual international event, themed “Digital economy: Driving force forgrowth and development of Ho Chi Minh City” was attended by more than 900 delegates,including leaders of the Government, various ministries and sectors.
Representatives from foreign diplomatic agencies and internationalorganisations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and AsianDevelopment Bank as well as renowned economists also attended the forum.
The three-day event will have 25 international speakers, double the number lastyear. Nine Vietnamese speakers will also address the forum.
Speaking at a recent press conference on the forum, Vo Van Hoan, deputychairman of the HCM City People’s Committee, who is also the head of theevent’s organising board, said HCM City has great potential to develop itsdigital economy as it has the highest number of smartphone and internet usersin the country.
However many enterprises, especially small- and medium-sized ones, faceobstacles in achieving digital transformation because they lack capital, humanresources and supporting policy mechanisms, he added.
Nguyen Phuoc Hung, deputy chairman of the HCM City Business Association, saidthe forum also discussed experiences and lessons in digital transformation fromlocal and international firms.
Long-term investment
Do Phuoc Tong, chairman of the Duy Khanh Mechanical Engineering Company, saiddigital transformation was a long-term and costly affair, meaning it would takeyears to recover the investment.
“The cost of digital transformation should be considered a long-term investmentthat can only be recovered in 10 or even 20 years rather than a production costto be included in the product’s price.”
“Businesses should be patient and persistent,” he advised.
He said it took up to five years for his company to complete its digitaltransformation and have all data digitised, which has resulted in higherproductivity and better strategic planning and higher revenue.
He recommended that the city include digital transformation in its investmentstimulus programme to support businesses.
To this end, “any enterprises meeting the criteria set by the investmentstimulus programme should be offered preferential loans,” he said.
Apart from investing in machinery to improve production capacity, businessesnow need to invest in digital transformation to improve management capacity, Tongsaid.
Economist Nguyen Thi Canh pointed out that Vietnam, especially HCM City, hasdeveloped a legal framework for digital economy development.
However, the city lacks policy mechanisms to support businesses in digitaltransformation as they try to recover production; and the human resource basefor executing the process remains weak, she noted.
“The four major pillars of a digital economy are institutions, human resources,technology and infrastructure,” she stressed.
HCM City aims to become a digital government and smart city by the end of thisyear.
It has set a target of having the digital economy making up 15, 25 and 40 percentof its gross regional domestic product (GRDP) this year, by 2025 and by 2030,respectively.
It will give digitisation priority to 10 sectors - healthcare, education,transport, finance - banking, tourism, agriculture, logistics, environment,energy, and human resources.
Currently, HCM City ranks fifth out of 63 provinces and cities in the rankingfor information technology application and development.
The digital economy last year accounted for around 15 percent of the city’sgross domestic product, or 191.8 trillion VND (8.27 billion USD), according toa study conducted by the Institute for Development Studies./.
VNA
