A view of HCM City. Việt Nam has a ten-year plan for a broad digital transformation of the country, with an ambitious plan to produce 10 start-up unicorns (valued at over $1 billion) apiece by 2030. Photo baodauthau.vn

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s digital economy has been steadily growing, presenting multiple opportunities for investors, start-ups, and businesses alike, according to an article on techwireasia.com.

In recent years, the Southeast Asian region has been seeing rapid and sustained efforts and investment into various digital economy initiatives by both the public and private sectors. Tech giants have been creating waves, most recently the Tokopedia-Gojek merger, and earlier, Grab pushing for a US listing with a valuation of over US$40 billion.

Estimates by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Co predicted that the Vietnamese sector could grow to $52 billion by 2025, which comes up to about a sixth of the massive $300 billion regional digital economy pie.

Backed by a stable political climate, progressive economic policies, and sustained growth, a lucrative opportunity exists for both local players and investors alike to tap into Việt Nam’s potential for economic greatness, the article said.

Opportunities include e-commerce services, digital finance, online gaming, and tech-enabled services to power Industry 4.0 progress. Like its ASEAN peers, a majority of Vietnamese residents remain underbanked, making digital financial services a highly attractive option for loans and payments.

In 2015, the Vietnamese Government announced a ten-year plan for a broad digital transformation of the country, with an ambitious plan to produce 10 start-up unicorns (valued at over $1 billion) apiece by 2030.

Aiming to incorporate at least 10 per cent of digital adoption across all sectors and Internet penetration of 80 per cent for all households, the plan appears to be on track.

Southeast Asia’s largest unicorn, Grab, has been investing heavily in accelerators for start-ups around the region from as early as 2018. Collaborating with both private and public players, Grab has been attracting start-ups intending to scale via mentorship opportunities, access to Grab’s customer bases, and even potential direct investment.

In 2020, the decacorn (start-ups valued over $10 billion) recognised the potential of Việt Nam’s digital economy and launched an accelerator for early-stage start-ups. Under their Grab Ventures Ignite accelerator programme, five winners emerged, who won over $1 million in investment and in-kind prizes from Grab and its programme partners. They span the breadth of fields such as retail, insurance, logistics, and communications, the article said. — VNS