New lineup of leaders for digitalisation era

New lineup of leaders for digitalisation era

On April 5 the National Assembly (NA) will elect the new state president and vice state president, prime minister, deputy prime ministers, and ministers, as well as other government members. After the election, the new state president and the new prime minister will take their oaths before the NA, constituents, and the public.

Last Wednesday, professor in economics Vuong Dinh Hue, Politburo member and secretary of Hanoi Party Committee, became the new chairman of the NA and the chairman of the National Election Council.

Replacing Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, 64-year-old Hue has become the 12th NA chairperson since 1946 when the country’s first general election was held. All 473 deputies voted in his favour. After the ballot, Hue took the oath of office, “I vow to be completely faithful to the country, people and the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. I will do my utmost to well accomplish all tasks assigned by the Party, the state, and the people.”

Born in the central province of Nghe An, and since being admitted to the Party Central Committee in 2006, he has held various high-ranking positions such as state auditor general (2006-2011), minister of finance (2011-2013), head of the Central Economic Commission (December 2012-April 2016), deputy prime minister (2016-2020), and then secretary of Hanoi Party Committee since February 2020.

In addition to incumbent NA Vice Chairman Do Ba Ty who will continue remaining in his position until the 15th NA tenure, other NA new vice chairmen were also elected last week, including Tran Thanh Man, Politburo member and president of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee; Nguyen Duc Hai, member of the Party Central Committee and chairman of the NA’s Finance and Budget Committee; and Nguyen Khac Dinh, member of the Party Central Committee and secretary of the Party Committee of central Khanh Hoa province.

In early February, at the 13th Party Central Committee’s first plenum, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was re-elected as general secretary of the Party Central Committee in the 13th tenure with high consensus.

Under the Political Report, which is the most important document adopted at the recent 13th National Party Congress organised in Hanoi from January 25 to February 2, Vietnam’s socioeconomic development goals have been set out, requiring the country’s top leadership to take drastic actions to drive the nation forward, especially in times of global uncertainties coupled with the pandemic affecting the whole economy.

Under the Political Report, Vietnam is set to become a developing nation with modernity-oriented industrial development exceeding the lower middle-income level by 2025; a developing nation with modern industrial development and a higher middle-income level by 2030 when there will be the centenary of the founding of the Party; and a developed nation with a high income level by 2045 when Vietnam will see the centenary of the national independence.

In the 2021-2025 period, Vietnam is aimed to hit an average annual GDP growth rate of 6.5-7 per cent; a level of $4,700–5,000 in per capita GDP by 2025; a ratio of over 25 per cent for processing and manufacturing industry in GDP; a ratio of 20 per cent for digital economy in GDP; a rate of over 6.5 per cent in the increase of labour productivity, and a ratio of 45 per cent for total factor productivity in economic growth by 2025.

To hit these goals, it has been demanded that high-tech application in many sectors of the economy and fostering innovation be considered one of the key solutions. Last October, Party General Secretary Trong signed and enacted the Politburo’s Resolution No.52-NQ/TW on some and policies to actively participate in Industry 4.0.

“Active participation in Industry 4.0 is the inevitably objective requirement of special significance for Vietnam to achieve breakthroughs in socioeconomic development,” the resolution noted.

Under the resolution, Vietnam has set a goal to increase the GDP share of the digital economy to 20 per cent by 2025, and 30 per cent GDP by 2030 when all people can access the 5G service. The country expects to become one of the leading hubs for startups and innovation in Asia by 2045. It also aims to increase the broadband internet coverage rate to 100 per cent (accessible by all communes) and labour productivity by 7 per cent annually from now to 2025.

Jeff Paine, managing director of the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) told VIR that one of the key solutions to Vietnam to achieve higher sustainable growth is to foster digital transformation, based on the country’s great IT potential. Under the AIC’s statistics, in Vietnam, users turned to the internet for solutions to challenges brought about by lockdowns. A significant number of Vietnamese tried new digital services: 41 per cent of all digital service consumers were new (higher than the region’s average), with 94 per cent of them intending to continue their behavior post-pandemic.

In 2020, e-commerce drove significant growth in Vietnam, at 46 per cent. Overall, Vietnam’s gross merchandise value is estimated to reach $14 billion in 2020, up 16 per cent on-year. Vietnam’s overall digital economy is estimated to hit $52 billion in value. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, among the six largest economies in ASEAN, Vietnam has the third-highest high-speed internet cost at $2.41 per megabit per month.