Great minds from around the world have a wealth of knowledge and want Vietnam to be a digital pioneer, Photo: Cuong Minh At VIR’s forum on digital transformation on March 21, Do Tien Thinh, deputy director of the Vietnam National Innovation Centre (NIC), said that it is crucial to support innovation and help businesses achieve their emission reduction goals. “While technology groups seek to expand their customer base and provide tech solutions, local businesses require digital transformation and innovation,” Thinh said. “In response, the NIC acts as a mediator, connecting private sector businesses with technology solution providers to provide training for human resources in digital transformation and innovation.” The NIC has already collaborated with the likes of Siemens, Google, and Hitachi to implement innovation support programmes at factories. A very visible area of green digital transformation has been in manufacturing, with factories constantly seeking new approaches … [Read more...] about Greener, faster, smarter digital plans
However the achievements were modest
Powerful plan mooted for tourism
Photo: Chi Cuong At VIR’s roundtable discussion on seeking a boost for inbound tourism last week, editor-in-chief Le Trong Minh opened the roundtable with a fact-based observation, and noted that the country has yet to unlock the full potential of its tourism industry. “While the tourism sector contributes a significant 9.2 per cent of the country’s total GDP, equivalent to $32.8 billion, this number remains low compared to the global average,” he said. In 2023, the tourism sector aims to welcome eight million international visitors. While this is a modest number compared to the level achieved in 2019 of 19 million visitors, it is a challenging target as the market is undergoing many changes and new trends post-pandemic. Explaining this, Hoang Nhan Chinh, secretariat director of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board assessed that group tours are seeing a decline, and tourists known as frequent independent travellers are on the rise. “An essential step is to understand the … [Read more...] about Powerful plan mooted for tourism
Top electronics retailers Mobile World and FPT Retail facing a rough year
FPT Retail is the owner of consumer electronics chain stores FPT Shop and pharmacy chain Long Chau, while Mobile World is the owner of consumer electronics chain stores The Gioi Di Dong (Mobile World) and Dien May Xanh, as well as drugstore chain An Khang, and food and consumer goods chain stores Bach Hoa Xanh. Drugstores of Pharmacity (left) and FPT Retail's Long Chau located next to each others in HCMC's Binh Thanh District. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran According to documents prepared for its coming annual meeting in mid-April, FPT Retail plans to make pre-tax profits of VND240 billion (US$10.17 million) in 2023, down from VND485 billion in 2022, and VND554 billion in 2021. The main reason behind FPT Retail’s low expectations is difficulties at FPT Shop, the company’s retail chain. Last year FPT Shop contributed nearly 70% of FPT Retail’s VND30 trillion in total revenues. With both financing costs and inflation still rising, FPT Retail management has assumed … [Read more...] about Top electronics retailers Mobile World and FPT Retail facing a rough year