Vietnam digital transformation program: goals for 2025 and 2030

Vietnam digital transformation program is now official national policy. On 3 June 2020 the Prime Minister signed Decision 749/QD-TTg, which approves the National Digital Transformation Program with a near-term target year and a longer outlook. It sets numbers for government, business and society. For a company planning technology spending, those numbers show where the state will push and where demand is likely to grow.

Source: Decision 749/QD-TTg of 3 June 2020, Prime Minister of Vietnam, English translation on LuatVietnam (english.luatvietnam.vn/decision-no-749-qd-ttg-on-approving-the-national-digital-transformation-program-until-2025-with-a-vision-184241-doc1.html).

The vision and the dual goal

The decision sets a long-term vision: Vietnam as a stable and prosperous digital nation. It wants to renew how the Government manages, how firms produce and do business, and how people live and work.

The program has a dual goal. The first part is to develop a digital government, a digital economy and a digital society. The second part is to form Vietnamese digital technology enterprises with global capacity. The text calls these firms a key force in building infrastructure, platforms and services, and in giving advice and solutions on digital transformation to other organizations.

Near-term and long-term targets at a glance

The economy targets matter most to firms. The decision says the digital economy will account for 20 percent of GDP by the near-term target year and 30 percent by the long-term one. Its share in each sector should reach at least 10 percent in the near term and at least 20 percent in the long term. Labor productivity should rise at least 7 percent a year in the near term and at least 8 percent a year in the long term.

The program also sets world ranking goals. In the near term Vietnam aims to be in the top 50 for the ICT Development Index, the top 50 for the Global Competitiveness Index and the top 35 for the Global Innovation Index. In the long term it aims to be in the top 30 on all three.

What the state plans to digitize

For government, the near-term targets include 80 percent of level-4 online public services available on different devices, including mobile phones. They also include 90 percent of work files at ministry and provincial level processed online, 80 percent at district level and 60 percent at commune level. All national databases, such as population, land, business registration, finance and insurance, are to be completed and connected. Vietnam also aims to rank among the top 70 countries on the e-government index.

In the long term the goals rise to 100 percent of level-4 online services. The text also aims to cut 30 percent of administrative procedures through data platforms for key economic sectors, and to open data to firms and organizations. For a business, that points to fewer paper steps with agencies and more data it can use.

Digital society and infrastructure

The society goals shape the customer base. In the near term fiber broadband should reach over 80 percent of households and 100 percent of communes. 4G and 5G mobile services and smartphones are to become universal. Over 50 percent of the population should have an electronic payment account, rising to over 80 percent in the long term.

The tasks section backs this with plans to re-plan frequency bands, upgrade 4G networks, and commercialize 5G early. It also says all equipment, software and IT investment projects must include cyber security from the design stage. Firms that sell or build digital products should expect that rule to apply to them.

Rules, testing and what firms should plan

The program says the Government will build a regulatory sandbox, so new digital products and business models can be tested for a set scope, space and period. It also calls for a review of laws on enterprises, startups, intellectual property, trade, investment, e-transactions and telecommunications. It names a study of tax and charge policies to encourage use of digital services, and tougher penalties for online fraud and for abuse of personal data.

Heads of agencies, organizations and enterprises are asked to take personal responsibility for digital transformation in their own units. The decision says going fast and ahead makes it easier to attract resources, and that firms should work with major global technology companies on new technology.

Three steps follow for a company. First, map which of your customers are government bodies or sectors named for early digital work, such as health, education, banking, agriculture, transport, energy and manufacturing. Second, build cyber security into any new system from the start. Third, watch for the detailed rules that ministries will issue, since the decision sets goals and tasks but leaves the specifics to later documents. This article is general information, not legal advice.