Joining the first Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Day in Hanoi on April 6, Ho Viet Anh, CEO of OSAM Cloud Innovator was excited about growing his business in the months to come.

He told VIR, “This is an opportunity for us to demonstrate how and what we have done to seek more greenfield customers. We expect similar and regular events of this kind in the future to help us thrive.”

Ho has attended many similar cloud events overseas, but this was his first in his home country. He and his team established OSAM in 2017 as a Vietnamese startup. It quickly became an Advance partner of AWS in the same year. Since then, it has grown the number of its cloud customers to more than 300.

OSAM is just one Vietnamese business that has made gains from cloud technology. Many others are venturing in to the area, such as Techcombank, VPBank, Vietnam Airlines, Med247, FPT Software, and VinFast.

Rang Dong Light Source and Vacuum Flask JSC began its digital transformation journey in 2020, and decided to work with AWS since last year. Vice chairman and deputy director general Nguyen Doan Ket said that the cooperation with AWS has opened new development space, new business models, and new customers for the company.

Source: The Ministry of Information and Communications

“Before using AWS Cloud, we enjoyed a growth rate of 8-10 per cent. The growth momentum reached 15-20 per cent after cloud adoption,” he said. “We have spent about 2.7 per cent of the company’s three-year total expenses on our digital transformation journey.”

Cloud adoption is being accelerated on the back of the government’s directions and policies. The country’s national strategies on digital transformation, socioeconomic development, and green growth for the 2021-2030 period highlight the importance of digital transformation in driving Vietnam’s next wave of inclusive and sustained development. Regulations, infrastructure, individuals, and businesses all play an essential role.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said that great results and practical value are expected this year. “In digital transformation, the most important factor is the use of cloud computing infrastructure. State agencies, organisations, and enterprises in Vietnam, instead of investing and operating IT systems themselves, should switch to using cloud computing services at a lower cost, more optimally, and more flexibly,” he said.

He added that digital transformation required a digital institution – there should be amendments to laws and decrees, while digital transformation also requires more safety and network security.

Cloud adoption typically requires small amounts of investment in infrastructure development. For example, with a minimum billing fee of just $1 and no lock-in periods or hidden fees, AWS Lift helps to alleviate cost pressures and provides small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) with a commitment free approach to get started, benefiting from the flexibility of AWS’s pay-as-you-go model, to develop the operational muscle and transform processes to drive new revenue growth.

In Vietnam, thousands of SMEs across industries have digitally transformed by leveraging the power of cloud computing, including customers from agriculture, education, financial services, manufacturing, and retail and consumer goods.

“SMEs are looking to adapt their business models given the current macroeconomic environment, and this is where technology can help. AWS enables them to be more innovative and resilient as they accelerate transformation in the face of ambiguity and change,” said Gunish Chawla, managing director for mid-market enterprise at AWS ASEAN.

According to the IDC Semi-annual Public Cloud Services Tracker, Vietnam is predicted to lead growth in cloud adoption within Southeast Asia, with an expected compound annual growth rate of 25.8 per cent over the 2021-2026 period.

In this trend, Vietnam is opening the door to international groups to join its digital transformation efforts. Minister Hung said as the state management agency in digital technology and ICT, his ministry is ready to support foreign businesses to successfully invest in Vietnam.

“Vietnam is currently developing an ICT development strategy, and at the same time strives to become the regional hub for ICT,” he noted. “The ministry is also currently drafting the amended Law on Telecommunications, which defines data centre and cloud computing as a type of telecommunications service. This is a new technology field and Vietnam encourages foreign-invested enterprises to get involved.”

This market openness is attracting more foreign investors who are venturing further into the local data and could market. For example, AWS has launched two new edge locations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and will launch a local zone in the capital in the near future.

Hyosung Vietnam plans to look at fields such as data centres, carbon fiber, and others. Currently, Hyosung is building data centres in South Korea, and is planning to build its first such centre in Vietnam worth $300 million, which will be completed in 2026.

Hyosung set foot in Vietnam in 2007 and has so far invested more than $3.7 billion here, mainly in textiles, materials, and chemicals.

To this end, Hyosung Vietnam met with the MIC in early April, expecting to receive the ministry’s support as well as learn about issues related to the policies in data centres, cloud computing, and foreign ownership limits.