The digital age offers opportunities for the world economy, creating new business models, which helps boost global GDP. — Photo sapo.vn

HÀ NỘI — The digital age offers opportunities for the world economy, creating new business models, which helps boost global GDP.

Đặng Hoàng Hải, director of the Việt Nam eCommerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade made the statement during a workshop in Hà Nội on Friday.

He said the digital economy could also help countries increase productivity, efficiency and transparency in international trade.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade organised the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) workshop on promoting the digital economy in the context of the fourth industrial revolution.

The workshop’s aim was to share experiences and improve understanding of the digital economy and its current role.

It also looked at the impacts, challenges and opportunities management agencies face in order to keep pace in the fast-growing sector.

Director Đặng Hoàng Hải also said the revolution 4.0 would bring potential and promote creativity.

Therefore, the digital economy would be widely applied in other economic sectors. In addition, it would help businesses reach out to the global market, he said.

The digital economy was creating opportunities, as well as challenges, and ASEM leaders recognised the importance of working together.

Jane Treadwell from the World Bank (WB) said they were very interested in the digital economy with two purposes of reducing poverty globally and ensuring common prosperity for all countries.

Global digital economy was worth US$1.5 trillion in 2016, equivalent to 15.5 per cent of the world’s GDP and is expected to rise to 25 per cent worldwide in the next decade.

In the labour market, workers need to adapt traditional skills, knowledge and business practices to digital environments. This will bring more opportunities for businesses and workers.

Đào Ngọc Chiến, deputy director of the Department of High Technology under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said the digital economy was interwoven with the traditional economy.

Economic markets were based on digital technologies to create transactions and exchanges of goods and services through e-commerce, he said.

Chiến also revealed the opportunities available to businesses.

Enterprises could easily develop trade links with consumers through e-commerce platforms and could also develop digital payment, insurance and banking services, he added.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade also organised a workshop called “APEC workshop on harnessing digital trade for SMEs” in Hà Nội on Thursday and Friday.

Participants shared experience and lessons to clear barriers to refining legal regulations in the field, and offered recommendations to APEC to continue stepping up e-commerce in the region.

Lại Việt Anh, deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Việt Nam eCommerce and Digital Economy Agency, said SMEs accounted for nearly 97 per cent of the total in APEC and were well-positioned to cope with challenges in e-commerce.

Data on eBay show SMEs using digital platforms earn export revenues more than five times higher than those using older methods.

However, a majority of SMEs are yet to effectively tap such opportunities. Hồ Thị Tố Uyên from the agency said diverse and asynchronous legal frameworks had pushed up business costs.

She suggested harmonising domestic and international law to ensure compatibility in legal regulations among countries and protect users’ privacy.

In order to deal with disputes in e-commerce, she called for building a sustainable online platform to address them as well as raising SMEs and consumers’ awareness about new regulations and policies on e-commerce and digital trade. — VNS