The digital economy acts as a catalyst for socioeconomic progress

DNHN - Digital economy is one of the three main pillars of National Digital Transformation, together with Digital Government and Digital Society.

The digital economy is an essential lever for immediate economic recovery and creates momentum for sustainable socio-economic development in the long term. This is a matter of national governance and regional and local governance, requiring the active role of localities, the capacity for cooperation and linkage between localities, regions and sub-regions to exploit and use resources effectively, bring into play the driving force systems for development. 

Professor Tran Tho Dat, Chairman of the National Economics University's Science and Training Council and a member of the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Group, stated that while the majority of provinces and cities have a Decree No. The decision, Project on Digital Transformation, Development of Digital Economy, Digital Government, and Digital Society, some provinces, such as Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh, and Da Nang, have taken the initiative quite early. 

The Resolutions/Schemes show the high determination and great responsibility of localities in concretizing the document of the 13th National Congress and the Government's national digital transformation strategy.

However, there are some points to note in the implementation, review, supplementation and completion of these Strategies/Projects: 

Firstly, most of the quantitative goals in the digital economy development and argument transformation projects of the localities are "similar" to the goals set out by the whole country in the National Digital Transformation Program according to Decision 749, the "local identity" of the Resolutions/Schemes is still quite blurred. 

We have experienced shortcomings in the past time in applying the country's economic framework to all regions and towns. When analyzing the challenges facing Vietnam's digital economy, one obvious objective factor is geography and population spread, which results in high costs for installing new infrastructure and upgrading existing platforms and logistics costs, particularly in mountainous areas and areas prone to frequent natural disasters.

Additionally, the credentials and abilities of the workforce adjusting to the industrial revolution 4.0 vary significantly among areas and locations. As a result, because the potential and future of local economies' digital economy development are so disparate, it is impossible to "horizontally advance together" in digital economic development. 

Second, the "concretization" in the implementation of goals on the proportion of the digital economy in GDP, sectors and targets for increasing labour productivity is not high. Most of the Projects do not specify the quantitative structure of the development of the digital economy (core digital economy, internet economy and industry economy), the impact of the digital economy in the overall economic restructuring of the province, different scenarios of digital economic development, etc. 

Third, the government should establish a mechanism to accelerate the growth of the digital economy in major economic regions, connecting local governments' digital transformation and digital economy development projects, and promoting The regional advantage is not just about having a high rate of economic growth, but also about having ideal conditions and possibilities for the development of the digital economy.

The government has recently undertaken a series of significant initiatives to advance the digital economy. On June 3, 2020, the Prime Minister signed and issued Decision No. 749/QD-TTG authorizing the "National Digital Transformation Program through 2025, with an eye toward 2030," which defines a vision for 2030. Vietnam develops into a digital, stable, and prosperous country by pioneering the testing of new technologies and models; fundamentally and comprehensively renovates the government's management and administration activities, enterprise production and business activities, and people's ways of living and working, while also developing a safe, humane, and expansive digital environment.

On September 24, 2021, the National Committee on E-Government was consolidated and renamed the National Committee on Digital Transformation. The Committee has 16 members, the Chairman of the Committee is Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. On March 15, the Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Committee on Digital Transformation signed and promulgated the Commission's work plan in 2022. 

 DH