Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính delivers his speech at a meeting held of the National Committee on Digital Transformation on Wednesday morning. — VNA/VNS Photo Lâm Khánh

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s digital economy revenue reached US$53 billion in the first quarter of this year.

The data was revealed by the Ministry of Information and Communications at a meeting held by the National Committee on Digital Transformation on Wednesday morning.

The ministry’s report at the meeting said the contribution of the digital economy to Việt Nam’s economy has been increasing.

According to the ministry, the digital economy consists of information communication technology (ICT) digital economy, Internet digital economy, and the digital economy of industries.

The Internet digital economy has a growth rate of 28 per cent, reaching $8 billion USD in revenue while the ICT digital economy and digital economy of industries have an average revenue growth rate of about 15 per cent each in the first quarter of this year.

In the meantime, the number of newly-established digital technology enterprises by the end of February 2022 reached 65,329, an increase of 487 enterprises compared to 2021.

The National Public Service Portal has integrated 3,552 online public services, creating favourable conditions for people and businesses.

In the first quarter of this year, the portal has received the registration of more than 167,000 accounts; synchronised over 14 million records and 163,000 online payment transactions worth VNĐ366 billion (US$15.9 million).

The electronic invoice system has been deployed nationwide. The tax authority has received and processed 77.7 million e-invoices in the first quarter of this year.

The report also revealed that human resource training for digital transformation has been paid more attention. Nearly 1,000 officials and civil servants have been trained during the first quarter of this year.

It is planned that about 10,000 officials and civil servants will be trained by October.

Regarding digital infrastructure, the speed of broadband network access in Việt Nam in the first quarter of this year has been improved compared to the same period last year, especially, the download index in mobile broadband increased by about 26 per cent, and the download index in the fixed broadband increased by 44 per cent.

The Ministry of Public Security has coordinated with relevant ministries to deploy a national database on the population with information of nearly 78 million citizens and over 133 million COVID-19 vaccinations.

The national civil status e-database has about 23 million birth registrations, including over 7 million children that have been assigned personal identification numbers according to regulations; over 4.5 million marriages and more than 3.2 million death have also been registered.

The digitisation rate of businesses documents reached 100 per cent in the national database of business registration.

PM’s directions

Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính, head of the committee, said at an earlier meeting that “Digital transformation is a driving force for innovation and the foundation for a modern economy.”

Therefore, the committee’s future workload is very heavy, he said.

It needs to implement mechanisms and policies to promote the process of national digital transformation, closely linking with administrative reform; developing e-Government, digital economy, digital society, and smart city; facilitating the implementation of the fourth Industrial Revolution associated with the sustainable socio-economic development as well as development goals by 2025, 2030 and 2045, he said.

He also pointed out several tasks that the committee must focus on, including perfecting the digital institution; developing digital transformation infrastructure, applying digital technology; mobilising resources through the promotion of public-private co-operation; improving the management capacity and the quality of human resources.

Investment in digital transformation must have a focus as both time and funds are limited, he said. — VNS