Departing with technology, businesses accelerate in the digital age

Following Resolution 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo , the National Assembly issued Resolution No. 193/2025/QH15 and passed the Law on Science, Technology and Innovation; Law on Digital Technology Industry.

This series of important legal documents, together with the context of strong digital transformation , is opening a “golden era” for technology enterprises and scientific research units in Vietnam. These are not just individual opportunities, but a synchronous policy ecosystem, creating a big push.

Previously, we often talked about policy lagging behind practice. But this time, with Resolution 57-NQ/TW, Resolution 193/2025/QH15 and two important laws, we have a relatively comprehensive legal framework that guides and creates development.

In particular, it is to establish a legal framework for a controlled testing mechanism (sandbox), allowing new business models and technologies to be piloted within a safe legal framework.

This is something that the technology business community has been waiting for for a long time. For example, businesses developing 5G technology, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, or semiconductor technology will have space to test and perfect their products before launching them to the large market.

In addition, new legal documents emphasize the mobilization and prioritization of investment resources for science, technology, and innovation. Technology enterprises, especially projects in priority areas such as strategic digital technology and semiconductor industry, will enjoy preferential policies on tax, credit, and land.

However, I think that there needs to be more specific and drastic policies to prioritize the use of “Make in Vietnam” digital technology products in government projects, state-owned corporations and in the national digital transformation program. When state agencies trust and use them, that will be the best guarantee of quality, creating a ripple effect and trust throughout society.

At the same time, core technology research is very expensive, so there needs to be more government venture capital funds and special tax incentives to encourage businesses to boldly invest in long-term R&D.

Departing with technology, businesses accelerate in the digital age - Part 4: Expectations of policy leverage - 2

We are facing a “heavenly” moment for the Vietnamese technology industry. For the first time, science, technology and innovation are placed at the center of the national development strategy.

Resolutions (Resolution 57-NQ/TW, Resolution 193/2025/QH15) and legal documents (Law on Science, Technology and Innovation; Law on Digital Technology Industry) issued recently are not only guidelines, but also create a favorable legal corridor for businesses to confidently invest in research and development (R&D) and test new products.

For businesses like Coc Coc, this is an opportunity to expand the Vietnamese technology product ecosystem, accelerate domestic digital transformation, and expand further into the region. Most importantly, we clearly feel the close support from the Government, which creates more confidence for businesses to dare to invest more and expand further.

However, to promote “Make in Vietnam”, it is not enough for businesses to make good products, but also need active support in terms of legal framework as well as resource connection from the state, to access and popularize products in the market.

I have three suggestions. First , we need to continue supporting technology businesses in product research and development (R&D), especially through state-sponsored venture capital funds and transparent and effective tax incentive mechanisms.

Second , the open data policy and prioritizing the use of Vietnamese technology products in state agencies is a very important "launching pad" for domestic solutions to have the opportunity to reach large scale and be tested in practice.

Third , I hope to have more connection programs between businesses - research institutes - universities to develop high-quality technology human resources, both good at expertise and understanding the market. Creating a strong connection between the three parties will resonate strength, helping to increase the completion speed as well as the practical application value of products when launched on the market.

In particular, we hope that the Government will support creating opportunities for healthy competition between domestic digital platforms and products from "imported" technology giants with the goal of Vietnamese people's data being stored in Vietnam.

Cốc Cốc’s direct competitors are international platforms that dominate the market with a monopoly in distributing search engines and browsers on mobile devices and tablets. Although we have made continuous efforts to expand and popularize the platform to Vietnamese users, due to limited resources, creating breakthrough growth is still a big challenge.

Therefore, we hope to support the distribution of the Coc Coc platform and “Make in Vietnam” digital technology products to the entire population, encouraging users to access, choose and experience domestic products. This is to reduce dependence on tools provided by foreign technology corporations, contributing to promoting the development of Vietnamese technology products.

Departing with technology, businesses accelerate in the digital age - Part 4: Expectations of policy leverage - 3

With the determination to implement Resolution 57-NQ/TW, the Government has initially implemented many solutions to promote the application of science and technology in industry. In addition, the global supply chain is shifting, creating opportunities for us to choose technology, investors and investment conditions.

In the context of modern industrial development, investment in science, technology and innovation is a must. However, when applying new technologies such as AI, IoT, big data... into production, businesses are facing 4 major challenges.

Firstly , the inherent limitations of enterprises: Most Vietnamese industrial enterprises are small and medium-sized, lack capital and resources to invest in technological innovation, and have low production management skills.

The application of AI and IoT requires large initial costs and appropriate IT infrastructure, which is a hindrance for small businesses. Continuously changing technology makes it difficult for businesses to meet market demands, especially in industries with rapid technological change such as electronics.

Second , there is a serious shortage of high-tech human resources: Each year, AI human resources only meet 10% of the demand, only about 30% of the 55,000 IT engineers graduating each year have AI skills, although Vietnamese people are very good at math and have a lot of room for AI development. Highly skilled engineers in automation and big data are also scarce, making it difficult for businesses to absorb and effectively operate new technologies.

Third , the domestic digital infrastructure and technology ecosystem are not yet complete. For example, the AI infrastructure is still weak, lacking big data and a strong computing platform to develop industrial-scale AI.

Information security and safety issues are also big challenges as more and more devices and production lines are connected to the Internet: The risk of data leakage or cyber attacks on smart manufacturing systems requires the state to issue appropriate management standards and regulations.

Fourth , businesses' awareness of digital transformation is uneven. Some businesses are still hesitant to change technology due to concerns about risks or lack of information, and need support and guidance from management agencies.

To promote industrial enterprises to access and effectively apply science and technology in production, in terms of policy, we propose focusing on four main directions: Investment incentives; promoting technology transfer and supply chain linkage; enhancing international cooperation and technical assistance projects; developing human resources for science and technology.

Departing with technology, businesses accelerate in the digital age - Part 4: Expecting policy leverage - 4

In my opinion, the key point now is not only to issue policies, but to ensure that policies actually enter business life. Policies must create trust and long-term stability so that businesses can confidently invest in technology. If the mechanism is still inadequate and inconsistent, even if businesses want to innovate, it will be difficult to boldly invest capital, while technological opportunities do not wait.

The biggest barrier facing many businesses is the high initial investment costs, while access to capital is limited. Therefore, the Government needs to soon complete green credit packages and credit guarantee packages for technology innovation businesses, especially small and medium enterprises.

Along with that, tax policies need to be designed to be more encouraging, for example, the mechanism for deducting R&D costs should not only be applied on paper, but the procedures should be simplified to make it easier for businesses to implement.

The government also needs to focus on policies to train high-quality human resources. Because technology only truly creates value when there is a team with sufficient capacity to operate it. Connecting universities, research institutes with businesses to jointly build technology human resource training programs according to actual production needs should be considered a priority.

However, businesses themselves cannot only rely on policy support, but need to improve their technological autonomy.

Enterprises must proactively research and improve production processes and possess core technologies to avoid complete dependence on imports. Only when we are self-sufficient in technology can we compete sustainably in the long term.

The synchronous combination of capital, tax, legal corridor, human resources and the spirit of technological autonomy of enterprises will be the 5 pillars to help the policy promote its effectiveness, becoming a real lever for enterprises to dare to innovate, dare to invest and dare to go with the technology wave.

It can be seen that from law, finance to technical support, Vietnam's policies are all aimed at helping businesses have the capacity to absorb and apply technology. However, policies are only truly effective when implemented synchronously, continuously and especially when businesses are truly placed at the center.