Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI – Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính delivered a speech at the 2021 Global Trade in Services Summit via video on Thursday evening, highlighting cooperation in digital transformation given the current situation.

The PM said that as countries are suffering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and resource depletion, promoting international cooperation in the field of digital technology is the key to transform their growth models, better exploit resources, promote flows of capital, goods and services, thereby creating a new driving force for economic growth, and ensuring sustainable, inclusive and comprehensive development.

He emphasised that Việt Nam’s potential for digital economic development is enormous as the country is a dynamic developing economy in ASEAN, has a network of 17 Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with more than 60 partners, and has a market of nearly 100 million people, most of whom are young and quickly adapting to digital technology.

Việt Nam is ready to, together with China and other countries, promote trade in services and digital economy in particular, contributing to the development of each nation and bringing practical benefits to the region and the world at large, he said.

In this spirit, the Vietnamese Prime Minister put forward five specific proposals.

Firstly, he said, countries need to take advantage of digital transformation to accelerate the fulfilment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030, which focuses on narrowing development gaps and social inequality between countries and create conditions for people in underdeveloped areas to have equal access to services provided on digital platforms.

Secondly, he recommended further strengthening the role of international cooperation agreements on digital technology so that the digital economy develops strongly and in the right direction, while at the same time it ensures cyber security and safety, guarantees privacy, fights monopolies and eliminates inequality in the implementation of tax obligations.

Việt Nam is willing to, together with other countries, build an appropriate legal framework to help the digital economy develop strongly, contribute and harmonise the common interests of the entire society, he affirmed.

Thirdly, attention should be paid to cooperation in education and training of human resources in science and technology, supporting labourers to gradually adapt to digital technology.

Fourthly, he suggested promoting the role of digital technology in trade facilitation, especially the movement of goods by multimodal transport, facilitating people’s travel, and ensuring the supply chain is not disrupted amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Finally, the PM said countries need to strengthen cross-border e-commerce on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, thereby helping promote exports, especially for seasonal agricultural and aquatic products.

The Global Trade in Services Summit 2021 opened in Beijing, China, on September 2 as part of the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) 2021.

CIFTIS2021 is the largest of its kind with the participation of more than 700 enterprises inside and outside China.

There are 15 related conferences and forums within the fair’s framework. This is the first time Vietnamese enterprises have joined the event in both direct and online formats. VNS