Vietnam - United States to strengthen cooperation in developing digital economy
On March, 08 th , at the headquarters of Ministry of Information and Communciations, Deputy Minister Phan Tam had a meeting with the US-ASEAN Business Council headed by Senior Vice President and CEO Michael Michalac and representatives of big corporations, such as GE, Uber, MasterCard, Time Warner, 3M and representatives of the US Embassy in Vietnam.
At the meeting, Mr. Michael Michalac affirmed the common goal of both sides was to build the foundation for Vietnam to enter the digital economy and hoped the Vietnamese side to be more specific so that the Council can help in achieving its ICT development goals.
Representatives of US businesses had made many suggestions and recommendations to the Ministry of Information and Communications related to ICT sector. Representatives from Microsoft and 3M suggested that the Ministry of Information and Communications provided more specific information on smart city construction and deployment projects. Currently, Microsoft and VNPT are cooperating to implement smart city project in Ho Chi Minh City. Representatives of 3M said that 3M was working with the Government of Singapore to set up a laboratory to deal with issues related to smart cities, specifically: noise pollution, intelligent transportation, intelligent heathcare ...
The representative of Mastercard said the legal environment in Vietnam was favorable for e-payment activities and emphasized benefits of electronic payment in improving the performance of enterprises, increasing transparency and helping the government to collect taxes. However, electronic payments can only develop on the basis of trust in the safety of payments on the electronic environment. The representative affirmed the very important role of Ministry of Information and Communications in ensuring safe electronic payment in the digital economy.
The representative from GE Group noted that Vietnam needed digital solutions to increase labor productivity, thereby enhancing national competitiveness. On that basis, Vietnam will move to the position of producing software solutions, not just as consumer using these solutions as at present.
Uber’s representative shared, in the future, Uber would share the startup experience for start-ups in Vietnam and this process would last 6 months. The representative also expressed the desire to actively participate in Vietnam's smart city projects. The company is expected to introduce pioneer technologies in Vietnam.
The Ministry of Information and Communications affirmed supports to new business models implemented by both Vietnamese and foreign enterprises. This is the base for Vietnam to enter the digital economy.
Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister Phan Tam said that the digital economy contained a lot of issues. He expressed his hope that US corporations and businesses should share experiences with Vietnam on policy formulation.
Deputy Minister Phan Tam affirmed that building a secure, reliable environment was important for developing a digital economy. Vietnam has been building strict regulations to ensure the safety of this environment, as well as ensuring the benefits to businesses providing digital services in Vietnam, including Microsoft, Mastercard, etc.
He emphasized that Vietnam always consulted domestic as well as FDI enterprises in order to achieve the harmony in the interests of stakeholders. And Vietnam encourages innovative business models and products.