Internet Day 2023 opens in Hanoi (Photo: VietnamPlus) This year’s Internet Day, themed “Internet Vietnam: New Spaces, New Opportunities”, is an annual activity held by the Vietnam Internet Association (VIA) under the sponsor of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC). The event helps to boost Internet development in Vietnam, strengthen cooperation and share opportunities of the Internet economy.
In his opening speech, VIA President Vu Hoang Lien cited Wearesocial statistics as saying that as of January 2023, Vietnam had 77.93 million Internet users, equivalent to 79.1% of the population.
According to the 8th Southeast Asia Digital Economy report recently released by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, Vietnam remains the fastest growing digital economy in Southeast Asia for a second year in a row and is expected to hold this position until 2025.
The country’s gross merchandise value (GMV) is expected to grow from 30 billion USD this year to around 45 billion USD in 2025 driven by e-commerce and online travel. The former will grow by 11% this year, and at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 22% between 2023 and 2025, reaching around 24 billion USD.
Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Pham Duc Long said that Vietnam is entering a new generation Internet era with the boom of new technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and 5G/6G technology with high-density connection, low latency, and ultra-wide bandwidth.
Vietnam is one of the countries with a high percentage of Internet users who shop online for goods weekly, at over 60%, higher than the global average of 57.6%. Vietnam's online retail revenue hit 14 billion USD last year, and is predicted to increase to 32 billion USD in 2025.
This is a huge opportunity that the internet has been bringing to Vietnam's development, Long said. He added that this has attracted the attention of many investors from developed countries such as the US, Germany, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Singapore.
According to the official, the current lack of infrastructure will also be an opportunity for Vietnam, because there remains an ample room to develop the country's infrastructure.
The MIC is building and soon issuing a strategy/plan for Vietnam's international fiber-optic cable development to ensure the safe and sustainable development of Vietnam's digital infrastructure, added Long.
VIA President Vu Hoang Lien said that despite the trend of job cuts due to economic recession, many major technology corporations in the world are still pouring capital into Vietnam. This is an opportunity for Vietnamese information technology businesses to open a new growth space and cooperate with global technology powers.
At the event, speakers shared issues about a sustainable future for Vietnam's Internet ecosystem, new technologies such as AI virtual assistants, generative AI applications in business activities, cloud computing, and electronic payment services.
On the sidelines of the event, an exhibition was organised to introduce new technologies from domestic and foreign information technology and telecommunications infrastructure enterprises./.
VNA
