There is an urgent need for Vietnam to make stronger reforms by recognising internationally adopted technical standards across industries applicable to ICT products and digital services to stay competitive in the region.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has emphasised the Government’s consistent viewpoint that people and enterprises are the centre, key players, target, and momentum of digital transformation.

With the development of new digital services, especially ones consuming large amounts of bandwidth, such as high-quality video streaming, some internet service providers (ISP) have started prioritising certain traffic – such as their own services or the services of their business partners – based on their business needs and plans. They justify this a discriminatory approach by citing the need to raise funds to further invest in their networks. Net neutrality proponents strongly fight back against such plans arguing that this could limit open access to information and online freedoms, and stifle innovation.

As Vietnam implements strict social distancing measures, banks have been stretched thin with some temporarily closing their brick-and-mortar offices to help customers go digital.

Even as the global industry is on a declining trajectory, the rising number of international remittances is predicted to flow into Vietnam and some digital initiatives are being explored to smoothen and expedite remittance transactions.

Vietnam’s ability to charge taxes from cross-border platforms may soon improve thanks to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s new tax rules, focusing on expanding the country’s taxing rights under international laws.