Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang (3rd from R) participates at the conference on reviewing activities in 2023 and launch tasks in 2024 held by the Ministry of Information and Communications on December 29. (Photo: VNA)
Presenting a report at the MIC’s conference on reviewingactivities in 2023 and launch tasks in 2024 on December 29, Hung highlightedsome notable results of the information technology and communication (ICT)sector in 2023.
Notably, the total revenue of the entire sector reached 3.74quadrillion VND, an increase of 1.49% compared to 2022.
In addition, the sector contributed approximately 99.3 trillionVND (4.09 billion USD) to the State budget.
According to the ministry, the 2023’s national digitaltransformation campaign with the dual goal of developing the digitalgovernment, digital economy, and digital society, as well as fostering thegrowth of strong digital technology enterprises in Vietnam has achievedpositive results.
Efforts to build and improve the legal framework continue to beprioritised, with the Electronic Transactions Law and the TelecommunicationsLaw being passed by the 15th National Assembly.
In the postal sector, Vietnam witnessed the explosion ofe-commerce, contributing to driving the digital economy. Postal service revenuereached 58.9 trillion VND (2.42 billion USD), a 9.3% increase compared to 2022.
In terms of telecommunications and digital infrastructure, despitebeing a developing country with low average income, Vietnam has madesignificant strides with 4G coverage rate higher than that of developedcountries, reaching 99.8%.
Currently, the ministry is conducting 5G trials in 59 localities,with a 99.8% population coverage rate for 4G. The percentage of smartphoneusers out of the total mobile phone users continues to increase to 84.4%. Thisis the sector's effort to achieve the goal of 100% smartphone users by the endof 2024.
Digital technology revenue reached 142 billion USD, with Vietnamaccounting for 28.7% of the total value. Approximately 1,500 digital technologyenterprises generated revenue from the international market, an increase ofnearly 4% compared to 2022.
Concerning internet information security, it remains a bright spotas citizens are now fundamentally protected in cyberspace. The national harmfuldomain detection and prevention system has blocked 9,073 law-violating websites,including 2,603 scam websites, protecting over 10 million people from accessingillegal and fraudulent online sites.
Regarding the publishing sector, the market revenue for audiobookswas recorded at over VNĐ102 billion, doubling compared to 2022. The rate ofpublishers registering activities for electronic publishing is estimated toreach 40.3%, exceeding the plan by 20%; the number of electronic book titlespublished during the year is estimated at 4,600, a 31.4% increase, bringing thee-book ratio to 15.3% of the total published products.
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quangaffirmed the crucial role that the information technology sector plays in Vietnam,as digital transformation is both a goal and a driving force for the country'sdevelopment. "In this context, digital transformation is a vital part ofadministrative reform," he said.
The Deputy Prime Minister emphasised that bridging the gap withdeveloped countries could only be achieved through science, technology, digitaltransformation, and innovation. However, he also pointed out that one of thebiggest obstacles to digital transformation was the institutional and policyframework.
Apart from formulating regulations, amending outdated decrees, theministry needed to swiftly and urgently develop new decrees and regulations,ensuring that they meet the required standards, he said.
For specific sectors, especially those requiring specialmechanisms, Quang noted the importance of tailored mechanisms.
Furthermore, he urged the ICT sector to rectify and put an end tomedia irregularities, implement the second phase of the National Developmentand Management Plan for the Press until 2025 to reorganise media agencies, andpay more attention to book publishing, as books always hold value in sociallife./.
VNA