The business community has actively sought new directions, applied digital transformation in business operations to make the most of business activities. Digital economy is more apparent than ever.

Nguyen Quang Vinh, General Secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Executive Vice President of the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD), said, in 2021, negative Covid-19 epidemic impacts on socioeconomic development are more severe than in 2020. However, the wave of digital transformation is very strong in such a challenging setting.

“Against this backdrop, VBCSD-VCCI chose the topic “Digital transformation for breakthrough: Technology solutions or strategic mindset of enterprises?" to shed light on matters that many businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones (SMEs), are still confused about when they shape and carry out digital business models,” he said.

Remarking on digital transformation adopted by domestic enterprises, Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien, Strategy Director of VNPT Information Technology Company (VNPT-IT), said that, given the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak, over 80% Business leaders believe that digital transformation is becoming increasingly urgent and about 65% intend to increase investment in digital transformation and highly-prioritized solutions for the time being: work from home at scale, cybersecurity, e-commerce, e-marketing and process automation.

He said, three decisive factors to successful digital transformation are people, institutions and technology, adding that changing habits is the biggest difficulty in digital transformation and perception and correct perception are the biggest challenges of digital transformation.

From a business perspective, Mr. Urs Kloeti, Manager of Nestlé Bong Sen Factory, said, “Our vision is to become a sustainable global company with true knowledge of locals and lead innovation, digital transformation and sustainable development. These key platforms have enabled the company to respond and continue to thrive despite the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In terms of digital transformation, our approach focuses on analyzing core values and opportunities from transformation rather than technology forward.”

He recommended prioritizing data digitization to seek and apply proper technologies. The most important thing in a digital transformation strategy is to equip and develop the necessary skills for employees to access and master the technology.

Dao Thuy Ha, Deputy General Director of Traphaco Joint Stock Company, said Traphaco’s digital transformation started from Mindset 4.0 for all business operations. The company boldly invested in human resources and infrastructure, built suitable processes and caught up with online shopping trends. Traphaco has actively invested in modern pharmaceutical technology of international standards, used robots in production to create a leading advantage in Pharma 4.0 in Vietnam; applied information technology to distribution management system (DMS) or the enterprise resource planning (ERP) in corporate governance; analyzed customer data via the Business Intelligence (BI) system; and assessed the capacity of each agent and pharmacy to optimize sales policies.

“When the pandemic broke out, Traphaco quickly adapted and changed to achieve high growth: 12% revenue growth and 27% profit growth in 2020. In the first six months of 2021, the company saw a revenue growth of 22% and a profit growth of 38% from a year earlier,” she added.

Regarding digital infrastructure, Mr. Denis Brunetti, President of Ericsson Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos & Cambodia, said that many industries are utilizing 5G mobile technology in addition to artificial intelligence (AI), automation and internet of things (IoT). Apparently, 5G potential can be seen in transforming industries and societies. Healthcare, manufacturing, automobile and energy/utilities represent the largest value actors where services are shaped and developed by 5G technology. 4G and 5G IoT capabilities enable businesses across all industries, not only helping them accelerate digital transformation to meet the needs of the new world in the digital age, but more importantly, helping sustainable socioeconomic development in Vietnam.