The local government wants Ho Chi Minh City’s (HCMC) digital economy to account for 25% of the southern hub’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) by 2025. The goal was set out in a directive issued by the Standing Board of the municipal Party Committee. It aims to speed up digital transformation and transform HCMC into a smart city.
Accordingly, the government will focus on raising public awareness of digital transformation, organising the implementation of digital transformation tasks, and completing the digital government. Authorities will work to integrate and effectively exploit data to aid post-COVID-19 socio-economic recovery and development and support modern-oriented governance.
Specific action programmes will be mapped out and implemented, while the application of information technology will be accelerated across fields. The local government will also work to ensure information security and safety when building the digital government, economy, and society. The government said it would strongly invest in human resources development, focusing on training and fostering cadres, civil servants, and public employees.
Resources will be prioritised in digital transformation in Thu Duc city in the HCMC municipality, contributing to forming a highly interactive innovation city in the east of the southern hub. Enterprises, especially those operating in information, communication, and science and technology will be encouraged to actively invest and join the digital transformation process and provide essential digital services.
Experts believe that promoting digital transformation is one of the solutions to accelerate post-pandemic economic recovery in HCMC and move towards strong development in the future. According to the HCMC Institute for Development Studies (HIDS), the digital economy contributed nearly US $8.3 billion to the city’s GRDP in 2021, equivalent to 14.41% of the total. The rate is expected to reach 15% in 2022.
HIDS proposed to build HCMC into a financial technology hub; develop testing policies (sandbox) on digital transformation and complete a support and consultation centre for digital transformation (DXCentre). According to Dinh Lam Thang, the Director of the municipal Department of Information and Communications, the southern hub is one of the localities having the highest number of smartphone users. The fibre optic network infrastructure, broadband internet, and 3G and 4G mobile infrastructure cover 100% of communes, wards, and townships in the city. These are advantages for it to speed up digital transformation in the time to come.
Earlier this week, the Deputy Director of the HCMC’s Department of Information and Communication, Nguyen Gia Phong, stressed that young people will play a valuable role in the digital transformation of the country. Community-based digital technology groups have been set up across the province with key members being young people. The groups have been giving guidance to each people in their community on how to use digital platforms.
As OpenGov Asia reported, currently, there are 209 community-based digital technology groups at communal levels and 1,891 groups at the village level, with a total of 9,950 members. The establishment of those groups was inspired by community-based anti-COVID-19 groups. The Department of Information and Communication has asked the provincial HCYU committee to work together with local administrations in setting up and maintaining the operation of community-based digital technology groups.
