HCMC – Vietnam has achieved the fastest growth in the digital economy among the ASEAN countries, according to a report released by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company. However, it must overcome many challenges to meet the 2030 target by contributing 30% of GDP.
According to the report, Vietnam’s digital economy grew the fastest among the ASEAN countries this year, with an estimated gross merchandise value increase of 28%, from US$18 billion to US$23 billion, thanks to e-commerce growth of 26% over the year-ago period.
Some 90% of digital consumers said they would continue using e-commerce platforms in the next 12 months, mainly focusing on food delivery services, accounting for 60% and online shopping of groceries with 54%.
In a recent forum on the development of digital companies, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said that if the country failed to focus on information technology, the nation’s annual growth rate target of 7% by 2030 could hardly be achieved.
There is a gap between the policy and practice of the digital economy; thus, a swift change in policy should be made, the chairman of CMC Technology Corporation advised.
Vietnam only has eight submarine cable systems until now, but if the country would like to become a regional digital hub, Vietnam needs to build more cable systems, added the representative.
Representatives also proposed the Government give incentives to companies investing in cloud-computing infrastructure.
According to a director of Viettel, promotion programs and international cooperation should be strengthened to step up the consumption of domestic technology products.
Meanwhile, Momo’s founder suggested that enterprises need the Government’s support in terms of policy and legal frameworks, such as the exemption of personal income tax to attract overseas Vietnamese workforce in digital technology.
The domestic digital market has many issues that need to be resolved during the national digital transformation. Vietnam needs to activate the open innovation ecosystem to enable digital companies to contribute to the country’s development.
