Digital economy, please don’t “big knife”

After implementing a program on digital transformation with businesses belonging to the Ho Chi Minh City Business Association (Huba), the feedback that Founder & CEO of WorkIt Joint Stock Company – Mr. Quach Ngoc Long received was that many business owners did not understand.

They hear a lot about digital society, digital economy, digital government or information related to technology like big data or AI, but business owners cannot tolerate this story. Because, this is not the difficulty that businesses are facing, their concern is how to increase sales, how to manage production and customer data.

Many businesses realize the importance of digital transformation but do not know how and where to start, or want to do it but do not have enough budget.

Digital economy contributes 8.27 billion USD to Ho Chi Minh City’s economy in 2021 (photo: Tran Chung)

For large enterprises, which are really methodical, the budget for digital transformation accounts for 2-4% of the total costs of enterprises. But for small and medium enterprises, the solution given by Mr. Long is not to “do big things”, not to mention what digital transformation is, but to give tools for businesses to apply to improve their competitiveness in the field. sales, administration, digitization of operational processes.

First of all, small and medium enterprises need to do well in sales, cash flow management, and then consider other things. It is necessary to develop a clear roadmap to familiarize yourself with digital transformation step by step.

Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City – Mr. Vo Van Hoan also said that businesses have participated in the digital economy for many years but not really synchronized and unified. Some people don’t know where to start and end.

Enterprises have not taken advantage to achieve the best governance efficiency because the digital economy has no limited space. A single enterprise cannot do the digital economy, but needs to shake hands with other businesses, spreading digital transformation to the audience the business serves.

Ho Chi Minh City has formed a consulting unit to support digital transformation for businesses and people. State management agencies meet with investors to hear the blueprint for development orientation. At the same time, many investors are willing to provide technology support and advice to help local businesses transform digitally.

Notably, the World Bank (World Bank – WB) and Ho Chi Minh City have established a joint working group to conduct research on digital transformation. The WB can play the role of calling for investors to support, invest and develop for the city.

Based on the data of 2019, 2020, 2021, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies (HIDS) – Mr. Pham Binh An – commented that the contribution of the digital economy to the GRDP of Ho Chi Minh City in 2021 is 14.4%, equivalent to nearly 192 trillion VND (about 8.27 billion USD).

However, this is just a study of the core impact areas related to information and communication technology in the digital economy, including: core scope, narrow scope, expanded scope.

According to Mr. An, Ho Chi Minh City has set a target that by 2025, the digital economy will account for 25% of GRDP and by 2030 will account for 40%. This is a completely feasible number because the digital economy has a fast growth rate with a growth rate of about 2 digits.

Tran Chung