Digital economy - opening up many opportunities for national development.

After more than 50 years since national reunification, Vietnam is facing the need to transform its growth model towards greater sustainability. Experts believe that the digital economy will be a key driving force, but to maximize its effectiveness, a synchronized approach is needed, encompassing institutions, businesses, and investment mindset.

Prof. Dr. TO TRUNG THANH , National Economics University: The digital economy will create qualitative changes for the economy.

In 2025, the economy achieved impressive results, but the structure of growth dynamics remained largely unchanged. Growth continued to heavily rely on capital expansion, evidenced by credit growth exceeding 19%, the highest in a decade. State-owned investment continued to dominate, accounting for nearly 30% of total social investment and growing by almost 20%. Meanwhile, the domestic private sector, considered a key driver of long-term growth, showed a declining trend in its share.

A notable point is that the contribution of total factor productivity (TFP) has turned negative. This reflects increasingly evident limitations in governance efficiency, technological level, and resource allocation. When growth relies primarily on capital and labor, the room for development will gradually narrow, increasing macroeconomic risks.

Entering 2026, the 10% growth target remains very challenging amidst global economic uncertainties. Accordingly, the growth drivers will continue to focus on industry, construction , and services. However, the crucial issue is not the growth rate itself, but rather the growth model.

In this context, the digital economy is identified as a central pillar capable of creating qualitative changes for the economy. Currently, the size of Vietnam's digital economy is estimated at approximately 14.02% of GDP with an average growth rate of about 10% per year. Despite achieving positive initial results, this sector still has much room for development and its potential has not been fully exploited.

The effectiveness of the digital economy depends heavily on the capacity of businesses to absorb technology. Large businesses or those with foreign investment often have a distinct advantage due to their ability to invest in modern technology and management, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face many resource limitations. Therefore, the role of the State in supporting and enhancing the technological absorption capacity of businesses becomes particularly important.

The key now is to shift from a purely "digitalization" mindset to a comprehensive restructuring of the economy, based on three pillars: core digital economy, sectoral digital economy, and digital governance, thereby creating a foundation for sustainable long-term growth.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien, Deputy Head of the Central Policy and Strategy Committee: Promoting the digitalization of traditional industries.

In the context of an unpredictable and volatile international environment, countries that effectively leverage the digital economy will be able to expand their development space and minimize the impact of geoeconomic and geopolitical factors.

Vietnam's digital economy currently stands at approximately US$72.1 billion, equivalent to over 14% of GDP, but its reach has yet to meet the demands of the new development phase. Therefore, the goal of having the digital economy account for around 30% of GDP by 2030 is a significant challenge, especially given that the current investment structure does not fully support this objective.

The biggest bottleneck currently lies in the digitalization of manufacturing industries, especially the processing and manufacturing sector – an area that plays a crucial role in achieving double-digit growth targets.

To overcome these limitations, it is necessary to focus on fundamental factors such as improving data institutions, developing digital human resources, strengthening linkages between the FDI sector and domestic businesses, and promoting the digitalization of traditional industries.

A key point is the need to shift policy thinking towards a more flexible and practical approach. One notable solution is to apply a Sandbox mechanism as a regulatory framework for testing emerging fields such as Fintech and Mobile Money. In addition, the development of digital infrastructure and digital governance needs to be accelerated, especially by mobilizing resources from the private sector into public infrastructure projects.

In the coming period, Vietnam also needs to focus on new technology fields such as artificial intelligence, data economy, and space economy. According to forecasts, AI alone could contribute more than 2% of GDP by 2030, becoming a crucial growth driver following digital transformation.

Furthermore, policies supporting businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), need to be redesigned to be more substantive. Instead of relying solely on government agencies, the role of the market, industry associations, and training institutions in leading the digital transformation process should be increased.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thanh Hieu, Vice Director of the National Economics University : Digital transformation - starting with a change in investment mindset.

The biggest challenge today lies not in awareness but in action. Many businesses understand the opportunities offered by the digital economy, but they don't know where to start to implement it effectively. This leads to slow and superficial digital transformation.

The digital economy is not simply about applying technology to production and business activities, but rather the process of building a new economic model based on data, digital technology, and innovation. In this model, data plays a core role as an asset, but the transformation of data into real added value in many businesses remains very limited.

To overcome this situation, businesses need to change their investment mindset, viewing digital transformation not as a technology expense but as a long-term development strategy. The focus of investment should shift to people, data systems, management capabilities, and connectivity within the ecosystem. Only with strong connections between all stakeholders in the economy, from businesses and training institutions to regulatory agencies, can digital transformation be effective and sustainable.

Furthermore, the importance and role of institutions in creating a favorable environment for digital transformation must be mentioned. Improving the legal framework needs to go hand in hand with building a synchronized policy coordination mechanism, avoiding fragmentation and overlap, thereby helping resources to be used more effectively.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/kinh-te-so-mo-nhieu-co-hoi-phat-trien-dat-nuoc-10415424.html