Live: The 2nd Digital Transformation forum on March 21
Nguyen Manh Hung, Minister of Information and Communications, said that 2023 is a year for practical implementation of national strategies. These include separate plans on cybersecurity and safety; digital data; digital infrastructure; the digital tech industry; and digital government, economy, and society.
VIR to host the 2nd Digital Transformation forum on March 21 |
”This is the time to create practical results and values. The ministry (MIC) must stand out to ensure the quality of the data connection, and ensure the quality of inter-ministerial and inter-local public services,” he said. “Currently, a number of public services when connected with IT systems of other ministries or localities have degraded quality or cannot perform.”
The MIC will amend a number of laws and decrees to make new regulations more feasible to better development and management, while using advanced technologies to solve traditional problems in Vietnam while creating great value, Minister Hung stressed.
A number of key tasks have been set out for 2023, according to the MIC. They include institutional quality, sustainability of digital infrastructure, data connectivity, and bringing Vietnamese digital tech enterprises abroad.
Vietnam has already made a number of improvements in legal documents to facilitate its digital transformation acceleration and 5G commercialisation, identifying them as driving forces to drive the nation’s next wave of inclusive and sustained development.
In 2022, the National Assembly adopted the amended Law on Radio Frequency. In February this year, new rules were introduced on the application of standards and technical regulations to data centres. The same month, a plan was approved to organise an auction of the right to use radio frequencies for the 2300-2400 MHz band, to pave the way for 5G rollout.
Under the rollout plan, 5G has been in trial at provincial scale with 300 base transceiver stations since December, and will be commercialised nationwide in June when the devices are available. Many more amended decrees and circulars are in the pipeline or are underway.
The MIC now plans to complete the draft revised laws on e-transactions and on telecommunications, and submit for adoption this year. Moreover, a draft law for the digital tech industry will be sent for discussion later this year and adoption in 2024. Before 2025, the ministry will work on national radio frequency spectrum planning and auctioning, while also planning a radio frequency control technical system for 2026-2030, while matching border frequency with Laos, Cambodia, and China across various bands.
The moves to support the country’s twin digital and green transformation have received strong support from the business community.
Pavel Poskakukhin, co-chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam’s (EuroCham) Digital Sector Committee (DSC), told VIR, “The pace and consistency of improvements being made give us a lot of reassurance that the Vietnamese authorities are on board to ensure digital transformation continues to accelerate and be applied successfully across different sections of society. The key lesson from our experience in the EU is to harmonise a data protection standard that has been tried and tested to minimise error and build public and business confidence.”
The DSC currently represents dozens of members including Amazon Web Services, Archetype Group, Asia Data Construction Vietnam, Bosch Global Software Technologies, and many others.
In the ICT arena, Vietnam is continuing to strengthen global partnerships. On March 10, MIC Deputy Minister Phan Tam met with visiting US Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Marisa Lago, and discussed investment cooperation between the two countries.
Also in March, Israel and Vietnam held a roundtable to strengthen digital cooperation between the two countries and businesses. At the event, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung said, “The Vietnamese government and MIC are determined to accelerate digital transformation in a comprehensive manner, in which international cooperation is one of the extremely important activities that the ministry identifies as a strategic mission.”
Furthermore, the recent establishment of an advisory group to support Vietnamese digital enterprises going global, initiated by the MIC, has received strong support among the business community because this will not only support local Vietnamese firms, but also international partners.
“Strong partnerships are critical in this journey and we welcome the advisory group,” Poskakukhin of the DSC noted. “We are on standby to work with various Vietnam stakeholders in this field to find consensus and ensure Vietnamese businesses can succeed in the European market and vice versa by adhering to high-quality standards and best practices.”
In alignment with Vietnam’s digital transformation strategies, multinational corporations are making their next steps.
According to Poskakukhin, digital transformation by European companies is mainly driven by their ability to capitalise on innovation in the technology space in web3, AI, and data protection to ensure consumers are protected, as they stand to benefit most from this trend.
“We expect investment to pick up given positive macroeconomic trends in ASEAN and Vietnam in particular, and look forward to working closely with the authorities and business community to keep this on track,” he added.
This week, a delegation of 39 businesses from US-ASEAN Business Council will have working meetings with ministries and agencies in Vietnam to discuss cooperation opportunities in the digital economy, development of 5G, information security, and infrastructure development.
Despite these developments, the business community still expects more enabling policies. At EuroCham’s Whitebook launch in February, the DSC recommended harmonisation of the Vietnamese personal data protection regulations with the EU’s various acts and other international personal data protection laws, where the objective is to ensure the safety of users in the digital space through the regulation of major technological platforms.
“Empowering businesses to choose from a wider range of options for complying with laws and regulations, including effective, well-established international standards and codes of practice, will foster a favourable business environment for European investors and enterprises in Vietnam,” said Poskakukhin.
VIR to host 2nd digital transformation forum on March 21 Policymakers, international organisations, and domestic and foreign businesses will gather at the 2nd digital transformation forum on March 21 to discuss possible routes to a faster, smarter and greener future. |
What the stars mean:
★ Poor ★ ★ Promising ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good ★★★★★ Exceptional