Digitisation- The foundation to promote fast economic development

Digitization, Electronization of the State Treasury - Optimal Choice in the Technology Age 4.0

Vietnamese personality and digital transformation

Digital transformation is having profound effects on structure and relationships in the global economy; replace manual labor with automation; replace capital with knowledge and data; comprehensively change the relationship of the government with people and between entities in the economy through the elimination of intermediaries in the value chain with direct connection technology; change consumption habits as well as behaviors of the whole society.

According to research by Google and Temasek (Singapore), Vietnam's digital economy reached US$9 billion in 2018 and is forecast to reach $30 billion in 2025. According to another study by Data 61, Vietnam's GDP could increase by about $162 billion in the next 20 years if we convert to digital successfully.

According to experts, Vietnam has a lot of potential for digital transformation, when Vietnam is in the period of "golden population structure"; well-trained, Vietnamese people are quick to adapt to change and like to use technology. The trend of digitisation appears in many fields and economic sectors, from trade, payment to transportation, education andhealth and has made important contributions to the economy. Every year, there are tens of thousands of creative startups in the digital field. Many businesses have demonstrated their digital technology capabilities andcarried out many high-tech projects, such as self-driving cars androbots. The effects of digital transformation are not only about improving productivity, optimisingresources andincreasing human experience but also a factor to help businesses build competitiveness, catch up with the times and lead trends.

FPTcorporation has launched a series of modern technology applications, such as a free chatbot creation platform (automatic message answering software), whileFPT.AI comprehensive artificial intelligence platform allows users to create chatbots according to business needs.VietnamElectricity (EVN) has also determined the technology application strategy of Industry 4.0 by promoting the application of IoT, big data, artificial intelligence andcloud computingin all activities from corporate governance to production and business activities of EVN and its units. Notably, Vingroup has "renamed" the retail segment with the purpose of promoting focus on the technology - industry segment, anticipating digital transformation trends.

Digital transformation - "vital" pressure

Modern technologies when put into operation are under a lot of pressure and challenges. The fact isthat many countries, including developed countries are also facing a"headache" to compete and survive in the digital age. As in Germany, the government had to come up with a high-tech project in 2020 to develop technology products in the face of future loss of competitiveness. Or in China, the era of competition with cheap goods "Made in China" has disappeared, they have developed products that are not only competitive in price but also in high technology and outstanding quality. In India, the movement "Made in India" is also creating a wave to make the country a centreof world technology.

Vietnam cannot be out of the loop. The pressure from digital transformation is increasing, even "vital" to the existence of many businesses. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam once said that to convert to digital successfully, it must have strong aspirations and wills, must break out of thinking which has been bound by difficult conditions so far. "We have the opportunity but we also not forget that the opportunity is also for other countries, if we do not make good use of it will be a challenge," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasised.

Therefore, Vietnamese businesses are making great efforts and have determination to convert numbers. Currently, there are nearly 700,000 private businesses nationwide, with the number of innovative startups more than doubled from 1,800 businesses in 2016 to about 4,000 in 2018.

Talking about the impact of digitisation on businesses, Assoc. Tran DinhThien, former director of the Vietnam Economic Institute, said that "digitalisation" has spread significantly in the business community, creating opportunities for "growing up" for everyone who knows "rethinking and redesigning and rebuilding”. Businesses at any size, small or medium or large corporations andthe "digitalisation" must be "embedded" in all basic activities of production and business to ensure and enhance competitiveness. This means enterprises must own and create technologies to compete in the global "playground" because if they do not adapt or innovate, then well-known enterprises may also need to downsize, even beeliminated from the market. Sharing the same view, Standard Chartered Bank's report said that to increase the likelihood of success against challenges such as low labour productivity and heavy reliance on foreign trade, businesses must operate by using new technologies such as connecting things of industrial scale anddistributing on digital platforms.

Businesses have confidence in digital transformation because the Party and the State have issued many guidelines and resolutions to promote digital transformation as well as the application of technologies of Industry Revolution 4.0. Therefore, Vietnam basically has a stable "springboard" to advance to digitalisation. But of course, the difficulties and challenges still remain, such as institutionshavenot been updated timely, the digital infrastructure is insufficient and weak, the human resources have not yet been able to meetcompetitiveness needs, as well as forward thinking of domestic enterprises is still subject to many restrictions, even "inferior" compared to foreign enterprises. Therefore, the problem is businesses must know how to take advantage of every opportunity, find the appropriate path to move forward, must change their minds, have determination to invest, dare to think anddare to break through successfully.