Flexibility demanded to pave way for rollout of 5G

Vo Thanh Thong-Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment

With Industry 4.0 having a substantial impact on all aspects of the economy and social life, more opportunities are coming along for each country, organisation, and individual.

The Party and the state have outlined orientations for policies and programmes to join Industry 4.0 to accelerate renovation of the growth model and economic restructuring towards stronger and more sustainable development, backed by sci-tech, innovations, and highly-skilled human resources.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has been working with relevant agencies and ministries, especially the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Information and Communications, on implementing solutions to accelerate digital transformation and innovation among businesses. They include the key action programmes to develop highly-skilled human resources for the digital economy, build a national innovation centre to develop the startup ecosystem, promote innovations, and support businesses in digital transformation.

However, Vietnam is facing many challenges as the country’s participation in Industry 4.0 remains low, while there is a lack of initiatives due to limitations in digital infrastructure. Many businesses remain passive with low capacity in approaching, applying, and developing advanced technologies.

5G is the backbone of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the commercialisation of 5G mobile networks and universalisation of network services are concrete targets set in the National Strategy on the Fourth Industrial Revolution towards 2030.

Nguyen Hoa Cuong-Deputy director general Central Institute for Economic Management

The Vietnamese telecom industry has developed significantly over a short period of around 15 years and gained a lot of achievements. Vietnam is among the few nations in the region to have a national programme approved by the prime minister on accelerating the digital transformation.

The government has devoted significant efforts in institutional building and cooperating with leading telecom groups to establish a miniature ecosystem that would fuel the innovation process.

Notably, the use of smartphones has been facilitated to assist mobile operators in developing customer segments, interfaces, and terminals, providing them with a platform to adopt new technologies to improve their service quality.

Policymaking should be a fully participatory process, with all stakeholders participating at all phases. To do so, it is crucial to maintain dialogue between state management agencies and enterprises. We expect businesses to speak out about the impact of policies on them. As technology changes rapidly, frequent communication enables state management agencies to keep abreast of the latest industry advancements, thus developing relevant policies to timely assist enterprises.

Christophe Poisson - Representative Digital sector committee European Chamber of Commerce

The world is undergoing a major shift towards the digital era, and Vietnam is taking part in it. 5G will offer an improved response time, with very few delays. This is a crucial advantage that will allow companies to automate tasks that can save time and enable more efficient management of the on-site activity. This is an important competitive advantage and a great opportunity for the development of innovative solutions such as remote machine control.

Unlike previous generations of mobile networks, 5G has integrated the energy consumption issue from its conception. It is estimated that 5G will use half of the energy of 4G at launch to transport 1GB of data, and around 10 times less energy by 2025.

Finally, 5G’s ability to connect many objects at the same time will enable the development of intelligent systems that will contribute to the environmental goals that modern societies have set themselves, namely, to better consume energy and water and to control our CO2 footprint.

Joseph Perucca-General director GIVI Vietnam

At GIVI Vietnam, we do our best to keep up with the logistical and organisational needs that increasingly need an adequate degree of computerised reporting and digital data.

We are deeply connected to the country and develop through digitalising, automating, and computerising alongside our irreplaceable human resources. GIVI Vietnam therefore embraces the era of digitalisation without replacing intellect and human capacity.

Examples like covering the roof of our factory with solar panels and producing clean energy have a meaning that goes beyond the simple eco-technological action. It is a lifestyle and a way of thinking and acting and living together in total empathy and respect for others.

On Vietnam and its digitalisation path, like many other countries, the effort to be faced is very difficult and it will take a long time to reach an adequate performance. But looking at some small actions, such as apps to report health, is a step towards digital awareness. But it is not just the technology that can make the difference, but the good relationship between it and human beings.

Anatolijus Fouracre - CEO SPS Vietnam

Digital transformation is no longer the buzzword it once was. We are at the forefront of our client digital transformation journeys.

Going digital not only allows an enterprise to reduce costs and improve customer service, but it also opens the door to the world of data analytics. Consumer behaviours, spending patterns, and other correlations that previously were completely hidden are now available to explore and leverage. Many companies have been able to take the data from multiple sources and turn it into predictive models to allow for better outcomes.

Digital transformation is not just getting rid of paper. It is utilising technology to improve customer service, reduce costs, and gain insights that otherwise would be hidden through the cumbersome processes within the physical workflows. Digital transformation is no longer something that companies can decide to do or not to do. Without digital transformation, companies will simply be outperformed by the competition and swallowed up by those that are already embracing it.

Le Hai Binh - Chairman AXYS Group

As the country aims to raise the proportion of the digital economy in national GDP to 30 per cent and boost productivity by 7.5 per cent annually on average, private enterprises will play a crucial role in realising this target.

However, I see that almost all policies to support the business community to promote digital transformation are for startups, while enterprises have yet to find suitable policies, especially in financial supporting packages. AXYS is an example – the company has operated for 20 years, but the company has yet to approach capital support for digital transformation.

I see a highlight in policy that can promote enterprises to implement digital transformation. It is the promulgation of the regulation about the use of e-invoices for the sale of goods and services, requiring individuals or household businesses to send an e-invoice to buyers. This policy is considered a big bang for digital transformation, forcing businesses to take at least one footstep into the digital economy.

Matthieu Francois - Associate partner McKinsey & Company

Digital natives are becoming an increasing force in Vietnam’s consumption. People born between 1980 and 2012, including members of Generation Z and millennials, are expected to account for around 40 per cent of Vietnam’s consumption by 2030. Members of this digitally-savvy generation live online and on their mobiles. Almost 70 per cent of Vietnam’s population in 2020 were internet users.

Digitalisation is changing the daily channels and communication methods used by Vietnamese people.

The rapid emergence of digital consumers has fueled innovation in retail and purchasing behaviour. For example, local social network Zalo is among the most used applications in Vietnam, with 52 million monthly active users, and has become a significant marketing channel. An estimated 55 per cent of Vietnamese Gen Z now use TikTok, driving intense competition, as evidenced in the launch of YouTube shorts and Instagram reels. These new behavioural trends have forced companies to rethink the allocation of their marketing budget.

Ngo Trung Linh-General director Payoo

As a payment intermediary, we are aware that digital transformation is an urgent issue for all businesses, and we will support partners to implement digital transformation such as by supporting the conversion of utility bill payments from traditional methods to electronic payments.

Recently, the process of digital transformation and electronic payments has been accelerated, making many businesses unable to delay this process. That is the basis for us to provide payment solutions suitable for each type of customer’s business. We have implemented solutions to support payments with modern methods such as internet banking, QR codes via e-wallet, banking applications, and others.

Payoo provides timely support to partners in many industries to help them recover and develop. Payoo also cooperates with Mastercard and retail partners such as AEON Mall, convenience stores, and electronics stores to organise promotions for cashless payments to encourage Vietnamese customers to adopt these methods.