Vietnam’s digital economy is anticipated to rapidly grow to the point where it makes up approximately 20% of national GDP by 2025, with the figure expected to rise further to 30% by 2030.

These statistics feature in the draft National Strategy on Industry 4.0 which highlights a range of goals and the need to be proactive and efficient when striving to take advantage of the chances brought about by the introduction of new forms of technology to accelerate the process of renewing the growth model and restructuring the national economy.

This comes after the Ministry of Planning and Investment has recently gathered public opinion on the draft National Strategy on Industry 4.0 ahead to 2030, in which the pace of technological change is seen as a means for the country to move to a higher level of development.

According to Boston Consulting Group, if the nation makes the most of the greater use of technology, the Vietnamese economy will be able to reap significant benefits.

Most notably, GDP is likely to surge from US$28.5 to 62.1 billion by 2030 depending on the level of technology put into use by local enterprises, equivalent to an increase of between 7% and 16% of GDP.

Industry 4.0 is therefore expected to create an additional 1.3 million to 3.1 million jobs, although it may drastically alter the structure of employment in the national economy. Indeed, by 2030 labour productivity is expected to grow from US$15 to US$640.

The implementation of Industry 4.0 technology nationwide will largely be concentrated on promoting research, development, the application of technology in enterprises and state management, along with building a digital government. As part of plans to make use of it across a range of sectors and industries, education, training of high-quality labourers, research, and technology will be the key focuses for the purpose of fine-tuning economic institutions and ensuring safety in cyber security.

The country is therefore poised to apply these kinds of technology when attempting to build an e-government in order to manage the state in a smarter, faster, more transparent, and efficient manner.

The changes also aim to reduce operating costs, shorten the time it takes to research and issue policies and laws, in addition to improving efficiency when supervising the implementation of policies and laws as a way of bringing about higher levels of satisfaction to people and businesses.

Moreover, the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies is designed to both upgrade and transform the current production and business system in order to optimise resource allocation whilst developing production and firms in a more effective manner. These changes will help to boost market expansion to better manage the supply chain and to develop new products and services faster so as to improve business productivity and that of the entire economy.

Recent years have seen the Vietnamese Party and State outline orientations to formulate policies and a number of schemes in order for the nation to become more involved in Industry 4.0, most notably the Politburo's Resolution No.52 issued on September 27, 2019, regarding guidelines and policies on participation in technological changes.

The resolution underlines the necessity of taking full advantage of opportunities presented by Industry 4.0 as a way of promoting the process of renewal within the growth model, restructuring the economy by implementing strategic breakthroughs, and attempting to modernise the country.

It is therefore essential to develop the digital economy in a fast and sustainable manner based on science, technology, innovation, and high-quality human resources. This should be done whilst simultaneously improving the quality of life and welfare of people, and ensuring national defense and security alongside the ecological environment.

Based on the overall objectives, the draft National Strategy also sets out a range of other specific objectives. For example, the digital economy is forecast to grow to approximately 30% of GDP by 2030, labour productivity will see an average annual increase of 7.5%, whilst the total social investment for research and development will make up at least 2% of GDP.