Experts speak at the forum in Hà Nội on Wednesday. — VNS Photo Minh Hương

HÀ NỘI — As digital transformation was vital for the development of Việt Nam's economy, local businesses had no other choice than joining to benefit from the trend, a top economics journalist has said.

Speaking at a forum in Hà Nội on Wednesday, Chử Văn Lâm, editor-in-chief of Editor in Chief of the Thời báo Kinh tế Việt Nam (Vietnam Economic Times), said: “Enterprises are the core of the economy, can not outside the digital, especially in the context of the pandemic which is changing the world with a transition towards the digital economy.”

The forum, held by Vietnam Economic Times and local investment promotion alliance Invest Global, aimed to identify and evaluate the reality of digital transformation activities of enterprises in different industries and proposed solutions to help businesses speed up digital transformation.

According to the organisers, the Government has approved the National Digital Transformation Programme to 2025, with a vision to 2030 with the goal of making Viet Nam a digital country, adding that such transformation process could help businesses reduce costs, control risks, improve labour and business efficiency and reach customers more easily.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Minh Vũ quoted the World Economic Forum (WEF) prediction that by 2022, the digital economy would account for 60 per cent of the world's GDP.

Vu said though the prediction was only 7 per cent of GDP in ASEAN, the digital economy could be expected to contribute an additional $1 trillion to the world economy in the next decade.

Experts at the forum said Việt Nam had huge advantages for digital transformation with a population of nearly 100 million, of whom more than 70 per cent use the internet, a dynamic technology level and great support from the Government.

Đoàn Duy Khương, Vice President of Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and chairman of ASEAN BAC said: “ASEAN is a special partner and an important market for Việt Nam with a large area with a population of 650 million people. Therefore, Vietnamese enterprises will not only focus on the value-added chain in the domestic market but also in the region.”

“The organic links between industrial production and digital transformation are extremely important. Việt Nam needs to take advantage of digital transformation, companies and industrial corporations in Việt Nam must pioneer and embrace advanced technology to create a supply chain of the region," he added.

Also at the forum, Đặng Hoàng Hải, director of the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, Ministry of Industry and Trade, said: “In 2015-2019, e-commerce scale increased rapidly with an average growth rate of 30 per cent. Online shopping is developing very well this year especially amid the pandemic, which has created a huge number of people participating in the e-commerce market.”

Hải added that with the development trend of e-commerce, businesses in this field were very optimistic about growth in 2020 and beyond. The positive growth of e-commerce in the current period has made many domestic enterprises well aware of the digital transformation trend and consider it an inevitable choice.

Mentioning the challenges of the transformation, deputy minister Vũ said as enterprises were the core to change, the habit of going digital greatly depended on the quality of human resources and the determination of the leaders of enterprises.

Trương Anh Dũng, director of the General Department of Vocational Education, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, said: “Việt Nam has a rapidly developing infrastructure, young, creative, and rapidly adapting human resources but another challenge is the low know-how of information technology among the common people while the technology training system is still limited.”

“It is clear that the education and training system can not help all people, so the role of technology enterprises with their strengths is to support building infrastructure, and human resources to meet the demand," he said.

The vocational training expert said another difficulty was the limited investment resources for the digital transformation of businesses.

“After the National Digital Transformation programme, there must be a strategy project for training enough resources to reach the target," he added.

By 2025, Việt Nam set a digital economy target to account for 20 per cent of GDP, the proportion of the digital economy in each industry and field will reach at least 10 per cent and the labour productivity will increase by more than 7 per cent per year on average. By that time Việt Nam should be in the group of 35 countries leading in innovation and creativity. — VNS