Vietnam's banks and financial institutions must be ready for a digital transformation, said policymakers and experts at a workshop held in Hanoi on October 25.

Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Kim Anh speaks
at a workshop discussing the digital transformation of Vietnam's banking
and finance sector in Hanoi 

Digital technologies have had a strong impact on the country's economy and nowhere that impact has been more strongly felt like in the banking and finance sector. Technologies helped improve business models and processes as well as created new products and services to serve the need of customers.

According to a PwC survey this year, Vietnam was among the countries with the fastest growth rate in mobile payments. The number of users had seen a sharp increase to 61 percent from just 37 percent the year before. 

In the first eight months of 2019, total value of mobile payments in Vietnam increased by 150 percent as the number of mobile transactions doubled from the same period last year, according to a report by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

A report by Google in April showed the size of Vietnam's digital economy could reach 12 billion USD by the end of 2019 and 43 billion USD by 2025. Vietnam and Indonesia are the fastest-growing digital economies in ASEAN, with over 40 percent annual growth. 

The SBV projected the digital economy would account for up to 20 percent of the country's GDP in 2025. Technologies, especially digital technologies, would be an important driver for economic growth and increased productivity to help develop the nation. 

The digital transformation is inevitable and Vietnam's banking and finance sector is well-prepared to embrace it, SBV Deputy Governor Nguyen Kim Anh said at the workshop.

Anh said the sector was among the country's leaders in adopting new technologies and innovations, and in reworking its regulatory and legal framework to make use of their advantages. 

Dr Sebastian Paust, First Counsellor, Head of Development Cooperation at the German Embassy in Hanoi, discussed Germany’s development cooperation strategy in supporting digital transformation.
 He said Germany would continue its support for the Vietnamese banking and finance system for the implementation of digital transformation programmes. 

Digitalisation in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and rapid changes in technologies has great potential to help achieve the objectives of green economic growth and sustainable development, said Dr Michael Krakowski, Director and Chief Technical Advisor of the Macroeconomic Reforms/ Green Growth Programme.

The workshop was a part of the Macroeconomic Reforms/Green Growth Programme implemented by GIZ Vietnam, and was co-organised by SBV and GIZ Vietnam, which operate on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).