Digital transformation will bring Vietnam into a growth spurt

COVID-19 pandemic This is a big shock, impacting many aspects on the socio-economic life of all countries in the world. After successfully responding to four disease outbreaks, Vietnam has moved to implement safe, flexible adaptation and effective disease control. That shift requires doing well in both recovery and socio-economic development and being ready to effectively respond to the complicated and unpredictable epidemic.

To achieve the goal, the task of safe, flexible, and effective adaptation needs to be cleared, effective use of resources, dynamics can be hindered by institutional bottlenecks, can be stalled. as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Information from the National Project From Policy to Life said that the fourth industrial revolution marked a remarkable development in the use of data and technology in all activities of social life. The trend of digitizing the economy and social activities is happening very quickly in many countries, especially in some leading countries and developing countries. Digital economy has become an increasingly important contributor to the gross domestic product of countries, especially during the post-COVID-19 recovery.

During the exchange session of Expert Nguyen Thy Nga – Chairman of the Project From Policy to Life with Prof. Tran Tho Dat – Chairman of the Science and Training Council of National Economics University, Member of the Economic Advisory Group economic policy of the Prime Minister on the topic “Digital economy – Resources and driving force for socio-economic development of Vietnam”, many views and assessments on this issue have been clarified.

Expert Nguyen Thy Nga and Prof. Tran Tho Dat had a dialogue on the topic “Digital economy – Resources and driving force for Vietnam’s socio-economic development”

Expert Nguyen Thy Nga: Plan towards the National Committee on digital conversion focus on directing and coordinating ministries, branches and localities to promote digital transformation, develop digital government, digital economy and digital society, prioritize resources to achieve important targets of programs National strategy on digital transformation, development of digital government, digital economy and digital society. How do you evaluate the role of driving force and impact of creating a new growth mode of the digital economy, especially for Vietnam?

Prof. Tran Tho Dat: Historically, every industrial revolution has opened a new stage of development of human society. The fourth industrial revolution has been making an increasingly strong impact on all areas of socio-economic life through the strong and cohesive development between digital technologies and data. Since then, more and more new business forms have emerged, creating huge, rapid and profound changes in all aspects of social life.

The trend of digitizing the economy and social activities is happening very quickly in many countries, especially in some leading countries and developing countries. The driving role and impact of the digital economy in the formation of a new growth mode is reflected in the emergence of many new industries and the blurring of geographical borders, new business models with the core of the digital economy. The core is the organization and operation method based on the application of digital technology. Moreover, the development of digital technology has contributed to the growth of productivity and efficiency, as a result of which the digital economy plays an increasingly important role in the gross national product of countries. The World Bank has determined that the digital economy will be the future development of many countries.

In the context of the strong development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, especially during the ongoing post-COVID-19 recovery on a global scale, countries that successfully take advantage of opportunities to develop the digital economy will create a competitive advantage to break through and rise up strongly.

Prof. Tran Tho Dat shared a lot about the goal of developing the digital economy in Vietnam

Asia is considered to be a very dynamic region and has experienced a rapid growth in the digital economy in the past decade, which will be the center of the development of digital technology and the global digital economy. An example is that although China is a latecomer in industrial development, China’s share of the digital economy in GDP has surpassed that of the US.

Located in the heart of Southeast Asia, Vietnam is considered a country with strong digital economic growth potential and is expected to become a country with a decent digital economy development rate in the ASEAN region. . It can be said that this is the rare first time in history that Vietnam has the opportunity and is actually going with the world in the fourth industrial revolution, the digital transformation revolution and the development of the digital economy.

The digital economy is creating opportunities for Vietnam to take advantage of in accelerating the country’s economic development, and is an important driving force to turn our country into a country with modern and innovative technology soon. That shortens the development gap with other countries. Many economic experts have said that developing the digital economy and accelerating the country’s digital transformation is a way to overcome the middle-income trap, a way for Vietnam to draw a future of development that is not only simply continuing the trend of the past but bringing the economy into a new growth trajectory with a breakthrough.

Expert Nguyen Thy Nga: How do you assess the goal of Vietnam’s digital economy accounting for 20% of GDP by 2025, 30% of GDP by 2030, and your assessment of Vietnam’s digital economy potential?

Prof. Tran Tho Dat: These are goals that express great aspiration. To achieve this rather ambitious goal, there should be an acceleration right from the early years of the implementation of the 5-year socio-economic development plan 2021-2025 and the 10-year socio-economic development strategy. . According to the report “The future of Vietnam’s digital economy towards 2030 and 2045” (Data61 Organization – Australia), Vietnam’s GDP could increase annually by 0.38 to 1.1% depending on the scenarios. different of digital conversion. In the past 10 years, Vietnam’s digital economy has developed constantly in terms of both infrastructure and business market, the economy has recorded the emergence of a digitalization trend in many fields, economic sectors, from banking, finance, commerce, to education, to healthcare….

The components of the digital economy in Vietnam currently have different growth potential. The ICT core digital economy is accounting for about 4.5% of global GDP, while our estimates are accounting for about 5.5% of the country’s GDP, 1% higher than the global average. The current Internet/platform economy component in Vietnam is estimated at only 1.7% of GDP, very low compared to the global average of 15% of global GDP, so the growth forecast is still low. great. Regarding the composition of the digital economy of industries, fields usually account for about 10% of global GDP, but in Vietnam, the digital economy of industries and sectors currently accounts for about 1.7% of GDP, also shows that Vietnam’s Internet digital economy The South still has great room for development.

Overall, although there is no official data, but according to estimates from many sources, the digital economy in Vietnam currently accounts for about 8.2% of GDP. Thus, it can be seen that the digital economy development goals set by the Party and Government are very challenging, because according to the normal development scenario, by 2025, Vietnam’s digital economy will only reach 10.5%. GDP. According to calculations by the Ministry of Information and Communications, to achieve the goal of the digital economy accounting for 20% under the rapid development scenario, we need to maintain the average annual digital economic growth of about 20%, 3 times expected GDP growth (6.5 – 7%/year).

Through the sharing of Prof. Tran Tho Dat, it can be seen that conquering the challenge of the digital economy is not easy. According to experts, to achieve the set goals, the digital economy will soon have to accelerate with effective solutions, both in terms of institutions and policies, increase investment, and raise awareness about economic development. number and also the quality of human resources.

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