Digital transformation, keeping up with the world but we must have breakthroughs to rise up!

On June 14, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the High-level Forum and International Exhibition on Industry 4.0 in 2023, organized by the Central Economic Commission.

Digital transformation has permeated all aspects of life.

Speaking at the Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh shared: Recently, with the transformation to a new growth model based on productivity and innovation, reducing dependence on competitive advantages as well as natural resources or human resources, cheap labor, Vietnam's economy has achieved a new step of development with many achievements.

The policy of development based on science and technology, innovation, and the fourth industrial revolution has been affirmed by the Party and State in the Party Congress documents.

The Prime Minister affirmed: Digital transformation has penetrated all aspects of life. At that time, those who are behind and cannot keep up will fall behind, become obsolete, and even be eliminated, and this happens in both real and digital environments.

Referring to the development of artificial intelligence, the Prime Minister said that the positive aspects of artificial intelligence are not few, but it is also necessary to assess the impact of the negative aspects more clearly and specifically. On that basis, how to orient the development of artificial intelligence technology to suit the specific circumstances of people in the world today.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (Photo: Le Anh Dung)

The Prime Minister emphasized that the 4.0 industrial revolution has an unprecedented scale and speed, changing the productive forces, promoting the transformation of industrialization and modernization to a new stage, intensive in knowledge, creative breakthroughs, opening up opportunities for us to catch up and go ahead in some areas compared to the region and the world.

“Go with them but there must be breakthroughs,” the Prime Minister noted.

According to the Prime Minister, the 4.0 industrial revolution has a comprehensive and inclusive scope of impact, forming new production relations, new business models, promoting green transformation, sustainable development, environmental protection, and emission reduction...

However, the head of the Government believes that opportunities always come with challenges, but we must always be courageous, never too optimistic about favorable conditions but also not pessimistic about difficulties and challenges that can come at any time.

“The problem is whether we can forecast, detect in time and respond flexibly, appropriately and effectively. That depends on management capacity at all levels and sectors, especially at strategic levels,” the Prime Minister noted.

The Head of Government emphasized that digital transformation must bring about substantial results and practical values for socio-economic development.

Speaking at the forum, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung commented: New knowledge creates new technology. New technology creates new industry and leads to industrialization. New industry creates new economy. New economy creates new society. New economy and new society lead to modernization.

Thus, industrialization and modernization are always associated with new knowledge and technology, that is, associated with new industrial revolutions.

Each country must follow its own path to industrialization and modernization. There is no model that has been successful in two or more countries. Vietnam's industrialization and modernization must follow the Vietnamese path, based on the cultural context, development level, regime, human qualities and Vietnamese problems.

According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, Vietnam must have its own unique perspective on industrialization and modernization in the context of the fourth industrial revolution.

“The fourth industrial revolution is 50% digital technology, the remaining 50% of technologies are based on digital technology for development. Therefore, many people consider the fourth industrial revolution as a digital technology revolution. Digital technology is suitable for Vietnamese people. Vietnam also has many excellent digital technology enterprises. That is Vietnam's advantage to accelerate industrialization and modernization,” Minister Nguyen Manh Hung shared.

The Minister of Information and Communications said: If we develop a basic knowledge platform to support each citizen, for example, a virtual assistant, the power of 100 million Vietnamese people will be multiplied. Thus, the fourth industrial revolution is about empowering people, instead of replacing people. If understood in this sense, the fourth industrial revolution is a revolution about empowering all people, a revolution for all people. And our Vietnam, our regime is very strong in things that are revolutionary for all people.

The forum is an annual event, attracting domestic and foreign delegates (Photo: Le Anh Dung)

Building strategic infrastructure

Emphasizing the importance of completing the country's infrastructure, the Prime Minister affirmed: The cause of industrialization and modernization of the country without developing strategic infrastructure cannot be called industrialization and modernization. Infrastructure is one of three strategic breakthroughs, infrastructure breakthroughs include hard infrastructure, soft infrastructure, especially transport infrastructure.

“Our country’s product prices are high compared to the world. Obviously, transportation infrastructure is limiting our development, making product prices high and making it difficult to compete in the world. Therefore, infrastructure breakthroughs are appropriate and especially necessary in the country’s industrialization and modernization period, including transportation infrastructure, telecommunications, electricity and other strategic infrastructures,” said Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Regarding the progress of transport infrastructure, the Prime Minister shared: We have implemented a series of expressway projects. The expressway projects along the North-South axis have basically been and are being implemented well. In the future, we will continue to start construction of inter-regional projects, such as the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3, the Hanoi Ring Road 4 project...

“Since the beginning of the term, we have put into use nearly 600km of expressway. We hope that with this speed, we will deploy a fast transport system, contributing to one of the three growth drivers of the country,” the Prime Minister expressed his hope and said that he has a policy to invest in the North-South high-speed railway project and is looking for a consulting unit and capital to implement it.

Regarding other infrastructure, the Prime Minister noted that there must be no "gaps" in telecommunications and electricity, especially in remote areas, border and island areas, and ethnic minority areas, determined not to leave anyone behind.

Vietnam has many favorable factors for accessing and benefiting from the Fourth Industrial Revolution. That is, it has a young, inquisitive, dynamic, and creative population structure; rapidly developing digital technology infrastructure; and increasingly perfect mechanisms and policies. Therefore, although we must pay attention to negative factors, this is truly an opportunity for Vietnam to realize its aspiration for prosperity and happiness.

The Prime Minister suggested that after this forum, all levels, sectors, localities and the business community should make efforts to turn aspirations into concrete actions and actions to continue striving and achieve new steps to contribute to promoting the industrialization and modernization of our country. We have made efforts, so we must make more efforts, we must make more efforts, we must be more determined, we must identify key points to allocate resources and time to successfully achieve the set goals.

Head of the Central Economic Commission Tran Tuan Anh said: Resolution 29 of the 13th Party Central Committee has identified Vietnam's industrialization and modernization model as a model based on the foundation of science and technology and innovation; considering the development of manufacturing and processing industry as key; digital transformation and green transformation as key transformation processes, as new breakthrough methods to shorten the country's industrialization and modernization process; identifying domestic resources as fundamental, strategic, long-term and decisive, external resources as important and breakthrough; domestic enterprises (including state-owned enterprises and private enterprises) as the main driving force; FDI enterprises have an important and breakthrough role in the industrialization and modernization process.

Through the forum, he hopes that delegates will exchange and clarify international experiences in industrialization and modernization based on science, technology and innovation; the basis for promoting the digital transformation and green transformation process and draw lessons and policy implications for Vietnam; clarify the current status of digital transformation and green transformation in Vietnam; results and limitations, shortcomings, causes, especially subjective causes in implementation organization.

Growing energy imports reduce self-sufficiency Growing energy import requirements are a problem in the development of Vietnam's energy industry, as it reduces self-sufficiency in energy and increases dependence on other economies.

Source