Businesses require support in digital transformation

Experts in the sector made the statement at the launching conference held on May 20 to unveil the Vietnam Annual Economic Report 2022 running with the theme of “Strengthening digital platform for the service sector" in Hanoi.

Upon addressing the conference, Nguyen Quoc Viet, deputy director of the Vietnam Institute for Economic and Policy Research (VEPR), revealed that the 69% of businesses in the nation have been forced to temporarily suspend their operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the pandemic significantly affecting several sectors such as service, accommodation, food, and tourism, it has yet to exert a serious impact on the digital economy, although it has created fresh impetus for enterprises to push forward with the digital transformation process.

According to a survey conducted by Base.vn, more than 60% of Vietnamese businesses have intentions to continue working both at the office and at home, while over 77% of enterprises look set to choose to deploy a hybrid business model featuring both online and on-site work as the country moves into in the post-COVID period.

The pandemic offers great opportunities for businesses to promote digital transformation, sell their products on e-commerce platforms, develop online channels, and make cashless payments.

Most notably, Vietnamese retail e-commerce revenue has grown at a rate of between 18% and 16%, respectively, over the past two years, while digital transformation has been also carried out in the health, education, banking, and logistics sectors.

Despite this, the VEPR report highlights that the digital transformation pace in the local service industry remains slow due to companies facing hurdles in terms of investment costs and technology application.

Think tanks emphasized that the Government needs to ramp up investment in information technology infrastructure, improve the digital literacy and skills of its workers, as well as creating favourable conditions for start-up businesses in the field of digital technology to further develop.

Furthermore, the nation must also strive to improve the legal framework relating to the digital economy in order to enhance its ability to protect digital services users.

Moreover, local businesses are required to develop strategies, invest in financial resources, and build a digital transformation roadmap for enterprises, as well as improving the mindset of business leaders in the field, according to VEPR experts.