Digital economic development: Efforts have been made but many challenges remain

Despite determination and some advantages, in reality, the development of the digital economy in Vietnam is still facing many problems and challenges...

With many efforts, the development of the digital economy in Vietnam has begun to "reap sweet fruits". Accordingly, the proportion of the digital economy in Vietnam's GDP in 2023 will reach 16.5%, with a growth rate of about 20%/year. Google's report assessed that the growth rate of the digital economy in Vietnam is the fastest in Southeast Asia for 2 consecutive years (2022, 2023), 3.5 times higher than the GDP growth rate. Vietnam is internationally assessed as one of the countries with strong potential for digital economic development in the world .

Da Nang City - a bright spot in digital economic development of the country.

Taking advantage of the strong development of the digital economy and digital technology to create new competitive advantages, seek faster and more sustainable development drivers, recently, in many localities across the country, the promotion of the digital economy has been of interest. For example, in Da Nang City, in recent years, the city has achieved many achievements in digital transformation. In 2023, the city achieved many outstanding achievements in the field of digital economy, such as the 2023 digital transformation award and 3 thematic awards organized by the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations. In September 2023, Da Nang received the international Seoul Smart City Award 2023, in the category of 'City with people, businesses as the center, serving subjects'. Similarly, Da Nang also received the award 'Excellent city in implementing and building smart cities in Vietnam'.

To achieve that result, the city has deployed the foundation, effectively exploited, and proposed solutions to develop the digital economy. Recently, the People's Committee of Da Nang City also issued Plan No. 163/KH-UBND on developing the information technology industry in the city by 2030, setting the goal that by 2030, the digital economy will account for at least 30% of the local gross domestic product (GRDP); reaching at least 8,950 digital technology enterprises and 115,000 digital technology workers, having at least 7 information technology parks and software parks to meet the needs of operations and training of high-quality human resources...

However, according to many experts, to achieve the goal of the digital economy accounting for at least 20% of GDP by 2025 as set out in the National Strategy on Digital Economy and Digital Society Development to 2025, with a vision to 2030, the digital economy must grow 3-4 times faster than GDP growth, that is, about 20-25%/year. These are difficult and challenging tasks that require breakthrough solutions to achieve.

In fact, Vietnam has been making constant efforts to create a favorable environment for the development of the digital economy. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Dong Phong, Chairman of the Council of the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, affirmed that Vietnam has been making constant efforts to create a favorable environment for the development of the digital economy. In particular, the Government has implemented many policies and strategies to promote the development of the digital economy such as: National digital transformation strategy, digital infrastructure development, training of high-quality human resources in the field of information technology, etc.

Despite the determination and advantages, in reality, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Le Van Huy, along with many great and clear opportunities, Vietnam's digital economy is also facing many significant problems and challenges. These are internal problems of the domestic economy such as economic structure, technological resources and business practices as well as unusual fluctuations from the world that have been and are creating unpredictable risks and impacts on the development of the digital economy...

Despite the determination and advantages, in reality, Vietnam's digital economy is still facing many significant problems and challenges.

For example, in terms of telecommunications infrastructure, Vietnam has an average mobile network speed of 46.66 Mbps (ranked 3rd in Southeast Asia and 43rd in the world), an average fixed network speed of 84.18 Mbps (ranked 5th in Southeast Asia and 45th in the world); 79.1% of people use the internet; 89.8% of people use social networks. The internet infrastructure meets domestic connection requirements. However, the international connection infrastructure is still weak. Currently, Vietnam only has 5 international submarine optical cable lines and they often have problems.

Human resources for digital economic development have yet to meet requirements. Meanwhile, human resources, especially information technology human resources, which are the most important factor in competition and digital economic development, are still limited in quantity and not guaranteed in quality. In particular, the institutional and legal environment for digital economic development in our country is not yet tight, synchronous, transparent and constructive. The rapid transformation of business models in the digital economy has led to a number of legal regulations that do not keep up with the actual situation...

On the domestic side, about 97% of Vietnamese enterprises are small and medium-sized enterprises, with low technological level, small capital and labor scale... but increasingly have to compete fiercely with foreign enterprises with superior technology, in developing the digital economy. This is also a barrier for us to develop the digital economy at present as well as in the future.

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