Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union Houlin Zhao and other delegates kick start for the Digital World 2021 Virtual Exhibition. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) Asia Times (Hong Kong) has recently published an article stating that Vietnam has the potential to become one among digital leading countries. The COVID-19 epidemic has disrupted traditional economic activities, but it also catalysed the development of the country’s digital economy, the website stressed.
According to Asia Times, Vietnam aims to have a digital economy accounting for 30% of GDP by 2030.
It’s a bold vision for a digital future as Vietnam sets a goal for its digital economy to account for 30% of GDP by 2030. To make this a reality, the government has embarked on an ambitious programme for businesses to ramp up their digital transformation. The programme will help enterprises, cooperatives and household businesses with their digital efforts through a multifaceted approach.
This is a fantastic effort by the Vietnamese government to bring business leaders, financial institutions and technology experts to harness the potential of digital innovation. It also provides a great opportunity for the country’s economy as a whole.
Not only will businesses strengthen their technological approach and strategies, but there will be also incentives to digitize their business, administration, and production activities from 2021 to 2025, and training, consultancy and access to digital solutions.
In 2020, in the context of the general decline of the global and regional economy, Vietnam's digital economy growth rate still reached a positive growth of 16% - the highest in the ASEAN region.
The scale of the digital economy in Vietnam has increased from 3 billion USD in 2015 to 12 billion USD in 2019 and 14 billion USD in 2020. It is expected to have a break-through to gain 52 billion USD by 2025. In particular, e-commerce, one of the most important components of Vietnam's digital economy, has significantly contributed to promoting economic growth in the country.
According to the e-commerce report in 2020, B2C e-commerce revenue growth in the period 2015-2019 is always double-digit with the average growth rate of the whole period is 25.4%, and revenue scale in 2019 is 2.5 times higher than in 2015.
The development of digital economy is considered by many countries as an inevitable trend in the time of the Industrial Revolution 4.0. In recent years, Vietnam's digital economy has developed strongly both in terms of infrastructure and business market.
Vietnam is considered one of the 20 countries with the highest Internet usage rate in the world with 68.17 million users (accounting for 70% of the population).
Internet usage is largely mobile-based, thanks to high smartphone adoption rates.
With a population of 97 million, the Internet penetration in Vietnam is high, standing at 70% and increasing by 6.2 million in a single year. The nation is set to see its mobile transactions increase by 300% between 2021 and 2025 due to the strong growth anticipated in mobile payments.
Covid-19 has accelerated the shift toward digitization for many businesses across the country. It has highlighted the importance of technology and digital transformations to the evolution of organizations across all sectors – particularly in banking. One of the most significant changes that technology has successfully leveraged during the crisis is how society currently interacts with financial services and pays for goods and services.
As the pandemic rages on, people are traveling less and staying home during lockdowns and avoiding handling cash to minimize the spread of the virus.
Lychee is sold online (Photo: VNA) The change of lifestyle prompted by the pandemic has led to heightened demand for seamless, contactless payments. Around 80% of Vietnamese consumers predict an increase in their use of cashless payments and a diminishing reliance on cash.
The ability to offer simplified payments has a profound impact on individuals, businesses and economic development, especially as the world continues to battle the health crisis. By making it easy to spend, share and save money, people can take financial control of their lives while mitigating the risk of infection through the use of cash. And the easiest way to simplify payments is through a mobile phone.
Vietnam's 5G network is also being tested and is expected to be deployed from 2021. In Vietnam, internet service charges are moderate, and fixed broadband internet service charges are the lowest in Asia Pacific.
With a population of nearly 100 million people, Vietnam is considered as one of the countries with a good digital economy development rate in the ASEAN region. The Vietnamese government shows its clear determination, orientation and action efforts in promoting the development of the digital economy.
Besides, Vietnam is a large market with a lot of potential for new business models, with a large population in golden period, large workforce, and a large number of internet users.
Located in the centre of Southeast Asia and Asia, an area that is considered to be a hub for the development of digital technology and the global digital economy, Vietnam has one more additional advantage. However, the development of the digital economy in Vietnam is also facing a lot of difficulties, which is the imbalance between fields and regions, legal issues, network security and ensuring user privacy./.
