Unlocking digital transformation for private businesses to find opportunities to 'take off'

(Chinhphu.vn) - The private economic sector – a key driving force of growth – is facing an urgent need to transform digitally to avoid falling behind. If properly planned, digital transformation will act as a “new operating system” for growth, innovation and integration.

'New operating system' for growth

Vietnamese private enterprises are facing both challenges and great opportunities to transform strongly to keep up with the times. Recently, Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW of the Politburo has clearly affirmed the central position of the private economy in the country's development strategy, while emphasizing digital transformation as a key lever to improve productivity, competitiveness and create new momentum for this sector.

Reality shows that digital transformation in private enterprises to achieve double-digit growth is an urgent requirement in the context of Vietnam's economy undergoing strong digital transformation and deep integration into the global value chain.

This is an opportunity to enhance national competitiveness and promote the driving role of the private sector in the spirit of Resolution No. 68-NQ/TW of the Politburo .

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hong Son - Deputy Head of the Central Policy and Strategy Committee shares about the spirit of Resolution No. 68 of the Politburo - Photo: VGP/NN

Sharing about the spirit of Resolution No. 68 of the Politburo at the Policy Consulting Workshop: "Digital transformation in private enterprises - Towards double-digit growth in Vietnam" organized by the University of Economics - VNU (UEB) on May 29, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hong Son - Deputy Head of the Central Policy and Strategy Committee said that Resolution 68 has set out goals as well as solutions on how to support each group of private enterprises to develop strongly.

Special emphasis is placed on creating equality between the consulting economic sector and other economic sectors, clearly demonstrating protection for the private economic sector, not only in terms of equal business rights but also protecting the private economic sector from negative external impacts.

"The resolution also raises the issue that the private economic sector can fully participate in major national tasks. Only then can businesses "grow" and reach out to the world, thereby returning to lead small and medium enterprises in developing the value chain," said Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hong Son.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Truc Le - Chairman of the UEB Board of Directors said that although the private economic sector currently has more than 940,000 enterprises and more than 5 million business households in operation, contributing about 50% of GDP and more than 30% of total state budget revenue.

However, businesses still face many barriers and bottlenecks, with the five biggest shortcomings being lack of strength, lack of continuity, lack of path, lack of connection and lack of courage.

Accordingly, to become "the most important driving force" of the Vietnamese economy by 2030 in the spirit of Resolution 68-NQ/TW of the Politburo, the private economic sector needs to have a breakthrough development.

To have a breakthrough development, it is inseparable from science and technology and digital transformation, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Truc Le said: Digital transformation is not only a tool, but also a development strategy of private enterprises.

Pressure of digital transformation

Up to now, the phrase "digital transformation" is no longer strange to every business, the motivation and need for digital transformation of private enterprises today is also very large.

Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises Nguyen Kim Hung said: "In today's business, it is no longer a story of "big fish swallowing small fish" but "fast fish swallowing slow fish". That shows that digital transformation plays a very important role for businesses today.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Quy, General Director of Vconnex Industrial Technology Joint Stock Company - a pioneer in digital transformation activities, and at the same time providing digital transformation platforms for businesses, said that the motivation for digital transformation of businesses does not only come from internal requirements of the business, they realize that without digital transformation, businesses cannot survive; but the motivation for digital transformation also comes from the business's competitors and partners and if they do not transform digitally, businesses will certainly fall behind.

“In particular, the driving force for digital transformation also comes from changes in customers' shopping and consumption behavior and the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the elderly and "no tech" people to use technology to survive,” Mr. Nguyen Duc Quy shared, adding that in addition to the above driving forces, the pressure for digital transformation also comes from the Government's policies encouraging digital transformation, and the application of science and technology in operations from the Government and functional agencies.

Experts together identify the pressure of digital transformation of private enterprises - Photo: VGP/NN

The in-depth discussion session of experts from the fields of academia, policy, business and communications at the workshop together identified core bottlenecks and shared solutions to pave the way for digital transformation for private enterprises on the digital transformation journey.

Sharing about the topic "Digital transformation of high-tech and agricultural product supply chains" led by Associate Professor, Dr. Phan Chi Anh (UEB), implemented in 2023-2024, does not stop at describing the current situation or synthesizing theories, but goes further, proposing 3 groups of specific, feasible and immediately applicable intervention policies.

These policies include: developing digital human resources; investing in digital infrastructure and R&D activities; designing a platform for sharing information across all links in the supply chain. All solutions are built on the basis of closely following Vietnamese reality, not imported theory, but actionable knowledge, born from the internal needs of the economy.

Similarly, the project "Model for assessing the level of digital transformation of small and medium enterprises in Vietnam" led by Dr. Hoang Xuan Vinh (UEB), conducted in 2023-2024, has built a comprehensive quantitative model consisting of 7 pillars and more than 30 criteria. This model allows SMEs to self-assess their level of digital transformation readiness, thereby making appropriate strategic decisions about technology.

This is no longer a descriptive study, but a decision support tool that can be applied immediately in business management practice.

Reality shows that digital transformation in private enterprises in our country has not yet become a mainstream, the results achieved are still modest, fragmented and unsustainable. Most businesses are still struggling between awareness and action, between the desire for innovation and limited implementation capacity, from financial resources, human resources, technology, to transformation strategy.

Experts together identified and clarified the internal bottlenecks of enterprises, institutional and policy bottlenecks from the State, and bottlenecks in multi-stakeholder connection and coordination among relevant entities; the role and policies of the State in the digital transformation process, especially mechanisms to support private enterprises in digital transformation.

In particular, good practices and best practices in the world on digital transformation in private enterprises are also shared by experts to provide valuable reference perspectives for businesses and policy makers. The results of the event will be recorded and recommendations will be refined to competent authorities, contributing to the completion of national policies on digital transformation in private enterprises.

Linh Anh

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/mo-khoa-chuyen-doi-so-cho-doanh-nghiep-tu-nhan-tim-co-hoi-cat-canh-10225052916083894.htm