Long An: Promoting digital transformation to enhance competitiveness

DNVN - Resolution 68 of the Politburo issued last May empowers the private economy, strongly encourages innovation, creativity and application of digital technology to improve competitiveness. As a bright spot in the Mekong Delta, Long An can completely become the "digital business capital" of the region if it knows how to take advantage of the opportunity.

The Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) and shared database of Long An province will be operational from the end of April 2022.

Solid foundation

In 2024, Long An province recorded a GRDP growth rate of 8.30%, ranking third in the Mekong Delta and entering the top 10 most attractive provinces and cities for businesses nationwide. With more than 19,500 operating enterprises, more than 87,000 individual business households and the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) ranking second nationwide, the province is converging all the factors of "heavenly time, favorable location, and harmony" to promote digital transformation, especially in the private sector.

The province's digital infrastructure has also been invested in a systematic manner, from the intelligent operations center (IOC), shared data warehouse, to the fiber optic network covering all communes and wards, ensuring that the rate of households connecting to broadband Internet reaches 90%. This is the premise for Long An to become the leading digital economic center in the region.

At the seminar on digital transformation in front of 200 enterprises in the province on June 23, Mr. Pham Tan Hoa - Vice Chairman of Long An Provincial People's Committee said that in recent years, we have witnessed strong progress of the fourth industrial revolution, with the focus on digital transformation. This is not only a technological trend but has become an objective requirement, an inevitable development strategy for every country, every industry, every organization and business.

“Realizing the importance of digital transformation, in recent times, Long An has issued many policies, action programs and specific plans to promote the digital transformation process in the province. The province has achieved encouraging initial results in building digital government, developing digital economy and digital society. Information technology infrastructure has been invested in and upgraded, online public services have been increasingly deployed, awareness of digital transformation among officials, civil servants and the business community has also been gradually improved,” the Vice Chairman of the province emphasized.

Open opportunities

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Tuan Duy - University of Finance and Marketing said that Long An has many opportunities for private enterprises in digital transformation such as: digital technology helps improve efficiency, expand the market through e-commerce, preferential policies from Resolution 68, competitive position and favorable investment environment.

A delegation from Qinghai Province, China, conducted a survey at Long An International Port, demonstrating the province's attractiveness to foreign investors .

“Digital transformation helps businesses automate processes, optimize operations and cut costs. Typically in Long An, Dong Tam Group has invested heavily in the SAP S/4HANA ERP system, creating a modern and effective management model. Meanwhile, Tam Long Pharmaceutical Company applies Power BI in data analysis, shortening reporting time and increasing accuracy in production management. With more than 66,000 organizations and individuals selling online, Long An is witnessing the explosion of e-commerce. Businesses can take advantage of platforms like tradelongan.com to introduce products, access national and international markets at low cost.

In addition, Resolution 68 opens up unprecedented opportunities for the private sector: 200% tax deduction for R&D costs, 3-year income tax exemption for technology enterprises, credit and land support, and promotion of blockchain, fintech, and digital assets. This is a push for enterprises to boldly invest in technology. At the same time, with more than 14.2 billion USD in FDI capital, Long An not only attracts foreign investors but is also a place where domestic private enterprises can learn advanced management models and participate in the global supply chain," Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Tuan Duy cited.

Experts say that Long An has all the factors of "heavenly time, geographical advantage, and human harmony" to promote digital transformation.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Duy, in addition to opportunities, private enterprises in Long An are still facing a series of difficulties that cannot be ignored, such as lack of investment capital, while digital transformation requires high costs, while most enterprises in Long An are small and medium-sized, with limited financial capacity. Lack of human resources with digital skills is hindering the implementation of digital solutions.

Many businesses face difficulties when their staff is not ready to accept the new model. The digital infrastructure is not yet synchronized, although it is basically adequate, but in rural areas there are still “depressions” or unstable services. And many businesses start digitizing according to the trend, without a systematic plan and specific goals.

Vice Chairman of Long An Provincial People's Committee Pham Tan Hoa acknowledged that, in addition to the achieved results, the digital transformation process in Long An province still faces many difficulties and challenges. These include limited investment resources, the quality of information technology infrastructure in some areas is not uniform, and the level of digital technology application of a number of officials and businesses is not really high.

“We need to frankly admit that, in order for digital transformation to truly become a growth driver, creating breakthrough values ​​for the province's economy, we need to have synchronous solutions, strategic vision and the joint efforts of the entire political system, business community and society as a whole,” Mr. Pham Tan Hoa emphasized.

Overcoming strategy

In the era of the booming digital economy, digital transformation has become a matter of survival for all businesses. However, many organizations in Vietnam are implementing it ineffectively, even failing due to lack of vision and failure to identify key factors. From an expert perspective, Mr. Phan Anh Linh - Director of the Center for Digital Transformation and Publishing Technology (Vietnam Publishing Association) pointed out 5 "challenges" and provided strategic directions to overcome them.

Mr. Phan Anh Linh believes that Big Data processing, data security and safety, cost optimization when expanding the system, standardizing and digitizing management processes and building a flexible digital working environment are 5 key issues of "life and death" in digital transformation.

“Without Big Data, data is fragmented, unstructured and heterogeneous, there is a lack of dedicated human resources and deep analysis capabilities, a data culture has not been formed, and there is a lack of quality assessment standards. The lack of access control leads to sharing via insecure channels, unsystematic backups, employees are vulnerable to social attacks, and there is no incident response plan. For outdated, rigid infrastructure, high operating costs, lack of performance monitoring, easy to “patchwork investment” and dependence on suppliers.

When not standardized - digitized, the process is still fragmented, manual (paper, emails, spreadsheets), lacks transparency and is prone to errors, technology is often imposed without "rooting" the process, employees do not comply. Meanwhile, the working environment is still tied to the office and administrative hours; lacks remote working tools, unclear evaluation of results, will not be suitable for the psychology of young employees", Mr. Linh explained.

Mr. Phan Anh Linh - Director of the Center for Digital Transformation and Publishing Technology (Vietnam Publishing Association) pointed out 5 "life-and-death challenges" and at the same time provided strategic directions for Long An to overcome.

Regarding solutions, Mr. Phan Anh Linh said that it is necessary to focus on building a data center system, training or hiring specialized personnel, raising awareness and building clear data entry standards. Applying a multi-layered security architecture, including technology, policy and people, implementing multi-factor authentication, monitoring and automatic backup, awareness training and response skills training.

Switch to a service model, build a set of performance monitoring indicators, plan long-term, think in an open, proactive and flexible architectural way. Review and draw a clear workflow diagram, standardize responsibilities - time - indicators, digitize each standardized step, prioritize automation and monitor performance in real time. Equip a communication platform, digital task management, central document repository, personalized KPI system, shift from time-based to results-based management, train adaptive and proactive thinking.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Tuan Duy, to overcome difficulties and promote sustainable digital transformation, Long An needs to synchronously implement solutions: administrative reform (promoting online public services, reducing at least 30% of procedure processing time for businesses); financial support (establishing a digital transformation credit fund, exempting/reducing taxes and supporting 30-50% of costs for applying digital platforms for small and medium enterprises. Training digital human resources (cooperating with universities for in-depth training in e-commerce, data analysis, and cybersecurity).

Regarding digital infrastructure (universalizing high-speed broadband, ensuring 70% of businesses use domestic cloud by 2025); building a digital ecosystem (developing Long An Digital Transformation Portal, digital business incubation center, organizing fairs and events connecting technology solutions).

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Tuan Duy also outlined the roadmap and KPIs for each stage, specifically 2025: 30% of enterprises will be trained, 200 enterprises will receive financial support; 2026 - 2027 period: 50% of enterprises will apply at least 1 digital solution; 2028 - 2030 period: 70% of enterprises will have basic digitalization, 1,000 enterprises will complete comprehensive digital transformation.

Thai Cuong

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/chuyen-doi-so/long-an-day-manh-chuyen-doi-so-nang-cao-nang-luc-canh-tranh/20250626114025532