HANOI – The total revenue of Vietnam’s information and communications industry this year is estimated at an all-time high of VND3,462 trillion (US$151 billion), growing 9% year-on-year.
The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) segment alone contributes over US$136 billion to the sum, increasing by some US$11.5 billion from last year, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications.
The ministry said the Covid-19 pandemic has given a boost to digital transformation, helping the information and communications industry maintain its strong growth.
Vietnam currently has some 64,000 digital businesses, increasing 10% from 2020. Besides, the number of laborers in the industry grew 8% year-on-year to over 1.4 million people.
With their revenues totaling US$18.8 billion, Vietnamese ICT companies account for 13.8% of the information and communications industry’s total revenue.
However, over 90% of digital firms in Vietnam are small and medium enterprises. Therefore, they have limited resources to invest in research and development for new products and services. They are also facing a shortage of highly skilled IT workers.
Moreover, some localities lack the capital to support digital businesses and develop their information and communications industries.
The Ministry of Information and Communications expects that “Make in Vietnam” information and communications products and services will account for over 45% of the total by 2025.
Besides, the ministry aims to have 100,000 digital businesses in the country by 2025, with 10 of them earning over US$1 billion.
There would be 10-12 information technology parks in the country and at least 10 cities and provinces are expected to earn over US$1 billion each from information and communications.