National Assembly delegates propose adding regulations to promote data economy

On the morning of March 25, at the 7th Conference of full-time National Assembly deputies, under the direction of Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Le Minh Hoan, delegates gave their opinions on the draft Law on Digital Technology Industry.

Creating momentum for the data industry to develop in the spirit of Resolution 57

Participating in the discussion, delegate Tran Van Khai (Ha Nam delegation) emphasized that the draft Law plays a very important role in institutionalizing Resolution 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science, technology development, innovation and national digital transformation.

Resolution 57 considers data as a strategic asset and resource, requiring data to become the main means of production and develop a data economy. However, delegates said that the draft has not clearly expressed this policy.

The regulations are mainly on technical management, and there is no mechanism for sharing and effectively exploiting data. For example, there are no provisions to promote the opening of public data and the development of data markets.

“Such a cautious approach will lead to an untapped data gold mine, businesses lacking raw materials to develop artificial intelligence, reducing competitiveness,” delegate Khai stated his opinion and recommended adding regulations to promote the data economy.

For example, the principle of open data and data sharing between state agencies and enterprises, the formation of data centers and exchanges, and the Government's assignment to regulate the list of open data and the mechanism to ensure privacy when sharing data, thereby creating momentum for the data industry to develop in accordance with the spirit of Resolution 57.

Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Le Minh Hoan moderated the discussion. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Sharing the same concern, delegate Nguyen Thi Thu Nguyet (Dak Lak delegation) said that the provisions on network security and data protection in Article 10 of the draft Law are still quite general, lacking specificity in terms of standards, techniques and management processes.

According to the delegate, in the context of increasingly strong digital transformation, personal data and business data have become a very valuable asset, and at the same time, they are also the target of external threats. Therefore, the lack of specific technical standards and strict control processes will lead to risks of data loss, leakage or attack.

Delegates suggested that the drafting committee study specific regulations and standards on network security, these regulations are based on international standards as well as standards previously issued by the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Specify outstanding incentives to attract digital talent

Regarding the content of digital technology human resource development, delegate Pham Trong Nghia (Lang Son delegation) said that according to the World Economic Forum Report in 2023, the global demand for digital technology human resources will increase to 149 million by 2030; the digital technology industry will need about 66 million more workers with digital skills, with an average annual growth rate of 10-12%.

In Vietnam, according to the Vietnam Association of Software and Information Technology Services (VINASA), there are currently about 1.5 million workers in the information technology industry, including digital technology human resources. Impact assessment report No. 165 dated September 20, 2024 of the Ministry of Information and Communications sent to the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly stated the goal of reaching 1.8 million workers in the digital technology industry by 2030.

The draft Law has provided a number of incentives to train and attract human resources for the digital technology industry through policies such as scholarship support; attracting foreign experts; and valuing talents in Articles 23 and 24. However, delegate Nghia commented that attracting human resources, especially digital technology talents, requires high international competition. To attract international talents and avoid domestic talent loss, incentive policies must be outstanding, specific, and special as determined in Resolution 57; at the same time, they must be competitive enough with other countries.

Delegates attending the conference on the morning of March 25. (Photo: DUY LINH)

Therefore, the Lang Son delegation requested the drafting agency to report more on preferential policies of some countries in the ASEAN region to provide more information to the National Assembly delegates.

Also related to this issue, delegate Tran Van Khai (Ha Nam delegation) stated that Resolution 57 requires special policies to attract and employ domestic and foreign technology talents with breakthrough mechanisms. However, the draft Law on this issue is still general, not specifying outstanding incentives.

For example, there are no regulations on personal income tax exemption for high-tech experts or facilitating long-term residence procedures for foreign senior experts; there is a lack of policies to attract good students to strategic technology industries.

“These limitations make it difficult for us to compete for talent, and high-quality human resources will continue to be in short supply. Therefore, it is necessary to supplement breakthrough talent attraction policies, exempt income tax for technology experts, simplify administrative procedures for foreign experts to stay, and increase support for training digital technology talents. These solutions will institutionalize the orientation of Resolution 57, creating an advantage for Vietnam to compete for high-quality human resources in the coming time,” delegate Khai suggested.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/dai-bieu-quoc-hoi-kien-nghi-bo-sung-cac-quy-dinh-thuc-day-kinh-te-du-lieu-post867514.html