Vietnam holds huge potential to develop digital economy
Vietnam is emerging as a country with great potential to develop digital economy, as it has more than 58 million internet users out of its 90 million people and the over 125 million mobile subscribers.
Illustrative photo (Photo: internet)
Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is emerging as a country with great potential todevelop digital economy, as it has more than 58 million internet users out ofits 90 million people and the over 125 million mobile subscribers.
Digitalisation is present in almost allfields in Vietnam, replacing traditional business models, from businessregistration and electronic invoicing, to online retail, property and banking.
More start-up companies are beingestablished in Vietnam and many have achieved impressive business results ine-commerce, QR code payment, electronic wallet and e-banking solutions.
A report of the Vietnam E-CommerceAssociation showed that 2017 was a booming year of the Vietnamese e-commercesector when its revenue exceeded 2 billion USD, a twofold increase over theprevious year. The figure is forecast to hit 5 billion USD by 2020.
However, e-commerce accounted for only 3.6percent of total retail sales, lower than the average rate of 14.5 percent inthe Asia-Pacific region.
The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industrysaid that along with opportunities, the digital economy also creates a lot ofchallenges for Vietnamese enterprises.
The first challenge is the strong presenceof foreign enterprises in many industries of the Vietnamese economy. Theinfluence of foreign technology firms such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft onVietnamese society is enormous.
Meanwhile, the high costs of IT equipment andpoor logistics services compared with regional countries are also preventingmany Vietnamese enterprises from expanding into the digital economy.
In addition, most Vietnamese consumers stilllack trust in online shopping.
Deputy Minister of Science and TecgnologyBui The Duy advised businesses to consider their business strategy and capacitywhen they want to digitise their operation.
Digital transformation does not mean buyingsoftware and hardware but concerns how to change the business model and adaptto technological transformation. Therefore, each company should have their ownway of transformation that best suits their conditions, he added.-VNA
VNA
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Illustrative photo (Photo: internet)