Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has called for five strategic breakthroughs in digital data, guided by the motto of drastic action with results as the key yardstick, coordinated implementation, data as an asset, data infrastructure as the foundation, data economy as the spearhead, data security as critical importance, and people and businesses placed at the centre.
Addressing the first meeting of the National Steering Committee on Data linked virtually with all 34 cities and provinces nationwide, PM Chinh, who is also head of the committee, stressed that the Party’s policies and guidelines and the State’s laws have long articulated a strategic vision for data development. He cited Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW and the recently enacted Law on Data, both of which designate data as a “new means of production” and a strategic resource that must be transformed into high-value assets.
Pointing out existing shortcomings, their root causes and lessons learned, he recalled that Party General Secretary To Lam had repeatedly affirmed digital data as a critical input and lifeblood of digital economy.
Only accurate, comprehensive, clean, real-time, standardised, and easily shareable data can power effective advances in artificial intelligence (AI), digital government, digital economy, and digital society, he said. Data security, he added, must be addressed at a strategic level to protect the data of the nation and its over 100 million citizens.
Against this backdrop, the PM urged accelerated progress in data development and data economy through bolder, more holistic reforms. Such moves, he said, are essential for Vietnam to catch up, stay competitive, and eventually move ahead in critical fields, serving as a powerful engine for sustained double-digit economic growth in the years ahead.
He outlined five strategic breakthroughs in digital data, including institutional frameworks, data infrastructure linked with sovereign AI, skilled data workforce, national and sectoral databases, a data ecosystem and data economy.
Ministries, agencies, and localities were asked to establish and effectively operate their own data steering committees.
On institutional reform, they must swiftly draft and issue regulations and guidance under the Law on Data, covering data architecture, data dictionaries, master data catalogues and core datasets. They should also submit to the Government a decree on breakthrough mechanisms for the National Data Centre (NDC)’s data innovation and exploitation hub, alongside regulations governing data exchanges and supportive policies for the data economy.
He directed the Ministry of Finance, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security, to build a legal framework for data valuation, fees and pricing for NDC data exploitation, as well as tax and capital incentives for enterprises active in data-related fields.
To accelerate national data infrastructure and platforms, he tasked the Ministry of Public Security with expediting the completion and effective operation of NDC No. 1, and proposing the construction of NDCs No.2 and 3.
Ministries, agencies and localities must promptly register their data assets and craft clear migration roadmaps to the national centre.
At the same time, the Government leader called for intensified research and mastery of core data technologies, such as cloud computing, blockchain, data exchanges and large language models tied to sovereign AI, while raising private-sector and foreign direct investment to build world-class data centres and hyperscale facilities.
Other specific tasks were also assigned to ministers, heads of agencies, and local authorities.
To date, 44 of Vietnam’s 105 national databases have been completed. The national population database has already delivered concrete benefits to citizens and businesses, bolstered social governance, and supported broader socio-economic development. The national business registration database now oversees more than two million corporate records, with seamless integration and sharing across 11 ministries, agencies, and all 34 cities and provinces.
The nationwide land database is fully operational, with participation from all 34 cities and provinces and data from 3,289 of 3,321 communes and wards linked to the central system. The integrated financial database has consolidated eight sector-specific databases, while the national insurance database has verified records for more than 100 million citizens. Meanwhile, the banking sector’s credit information database manages over 22 million personal credit records./.
