Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved to a national digital transformation programme that will run until 2025, with a vision extending to 2030, which sets a target of turning the country into a stable and prosperous digital country over the course of the next decade.

Vietnam is set to become a digital country by 2030 (Photo: internet) 

Under the scheme, Vietnam will experiment a range of new technologies and models, strive to completely renovate the way in which the Government operates, update business operations, develop the working lifestyles of citizens, alongside creating a safe, secure, and humane digital environment.

The move aims to realise the dual goal of forming a digital Government, a digital economy, and a digital society, while simultaneously establishing digital businesses that have a global competitive capacity.

Most notably, the digital economy is projected to make up some 20% of the country’s GDP in the future, with the proportion of the digital economy in each economic sector reaching at least 10%, whilst annual labour productivity will likely increase by at least 7%.

In addition to this economic transformation, Vietnam is set to be among the top 50 countries in terms of information and communication technology development index (IDI) within the next five years, among the top 50 countries in terms of the global competitiveness index (GCI), and in the top 35 countries in terms of the global innovation index (GII). 

To develop a true digital society, the digital gap must be narrowed, with the schedule for change ahead to 2025 outlining that the fiber optic network infrastructure will reach out to more than 80% of households and 100% of communes nationwide.

Moreover, both 4G and 5G mobile network services and smart mobile phones will be universalised, while more than half of the country’s population will be making use of electronic forms of payment. Vietnam will also be looking to be among the top 40 countries globally in terms of the global cybersecurity index (GCI).

To this end, there are plans to build and develop Vietnamese broadband infrastructure, upgrade 4G mobile networks, while simultaneously rolling out 5G mobile network. Furthermore, there will be an integration of 4G and 5G technologies into mobile products, plus popularizing smart phones across the country.

There will be an expansion of domestic Internet connections, a push to popularise the .vn domain name, a greater development of Internet of Things infrastructure, and a further integration into sensors to transform traditional infrastructure into an important component of the nation’s digital infrastructure.

The scheme is set to look at a number of priority areas subject to digital transformation, including health care, education, finance, banking, agriculture, transportation, energy, natural resources, the environment, and industrial production.