The Deputy Prime Minister, Vu Duc Dam, recently approved a Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) proposal to replace the programme ‘Developing the IT and Electronics-Telecoms Industries until 2025’ with the project ‘Strategies to Develop the Digital Technology Industry in Vietnam until 2025’. This is considered a critical change to create sufficiently skilled human resources in the digital technology field, encouraging breakthroughs in the industry.
MIC had proposed the change last November, aiming to make the country more “active in Industry 4.0”, according to reports. Along with approving the proposal, Dam asked MIC to submit a report on the preparation mission for the new strategy to ensure harmony and efficiency while avoiding overlaps between strategies. In the guideline for IT industry development in 2022 (towards 2024) MIC identified the completion of the strategy as one of the seven key missions in the ICT industry this year. This means that digital technology will become a pillar for the establishment of a digital government and the modernisation of the agriculture, telecom, and service sectors.
MIC said that it will continue to promote ‘Make-in-Vietnam’ technology products, aiming to transform the country into a technological hub, enabling it to serve both the domestic and foreign markets. Additionally, MIC will facilitate investments in the research and manufacturing of 5G equipment following the government’s target to offer 5G commercial services through domestic devices. Over the next few years, the Ministry will focus on developing a digital technology business ecosystem and upgrading the quality of human resources in the field. It plans to update and implement the skill standards for digital human resources and maintain the 6-6.5% contribution of digital technology businesses to the GDP.
The MIC Minister, Nguyen Manh Hung, stated that there has been growth in the number of incubators for innovative ideas, technology businesses, and novel technology products in Vietnam thanks to collaborations between the government, large corporations, and technology enterprises. MIC statistics reveal that in 2021, Vietnam had 64,000 digital technology enterprises (a rise of 5,600 units compared to 2020) and introduced several new made-in-Vietnam ICT products.
The revenues of the ICT industry last year reached US$136.2 billion, 13.8% of which belonged to Vietnamese companies (US$18.78 billion). In 2022, MIC aims to increase the total quantity of digital technology businesses in Vietnam to 70,000 and the total revenues in the IT telecoms industry to US$148.5 billion, with an IT revenue growth rate of 9.2% and state budget contribution of US$3 billion. The country plans to have 100,000 digital technology firms by 2025 and have at least ten firms compete in global markets. It also wants to have 10 localities with revenues of over US$1 billion from ICT and 10-12 IT zones.
Vietnam is at the forefront of driving change and seizing opportunities to thrive based on digital transformation in a post-pandemic future. Southeast Asia is a leader of digital transformation in the Asia-Pacific region and Vietnam is one of the best performers.
