Vietnam sees grade promotion in digital government, economy, society

National Assembly Chair Vuong Dinh Hue noted that the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has made great strides in both building policies and promoting national digital transformation.

Politburo member and National Assembly Chair Vuong Dinh Hue held a working session with MIC on March 29.

It is making a great contribution to the country’s development, serving as the major driving force for sustainable growth.

MIC Deputy Minister Pham Duc Long reported that the total revenue of the entire sector reached VND3,893,595 billion in 2022, an increase of 12.7 percent. 

The sector has 1.5 million workers at 85,000 units, including 70,000 digital technology firms.

In addition to production and business activities, the information and communications sector has also paid high attention to developing institutions. 

In the 2021-2026 tenure, MIC has been building four laws, including the law amending and supplementing a number of articles in the Law on Radio Frequency; Law on Electronic Transactions (amended); and Law on Telecommunications (amended) and Law on Digital Technology Industry.

The laws to be compiled in the time to come include ones on the post, journalism, publishing, and digital government.

2023 was chosen as the year of digital data and the year to implement signed strategies, with focus on new approaches; benefits to people; sustainable value and quality; administrative reform; and online public services. 

At the same time, Vietnam will focus on upgrading the ranking of e-government and digital government; control cross-border platforms; use major technologies to solve small questions of Vietnam; and encourage digital technology firms to go abroad.

Citing the outcomes of national digital transformation in 2020, MIC Deputy Minister Nguyen Huy Dung said according to the UN, Vietnam ranks 86th out of 193 countries in digital government and electronic government. Its cybersecurity index has increased by 75 grades, and is now ranked 25th.

The contribution by the digital economy to Vietnam’s GDP, as estimated by MIC, has increased from 11.91 percent in 2021 to 14.26 percent in 2022. Regarding digital society, Vietnam has been doing well in popularizing smartphones, digital payment accounts and fiber to the home service.

According to Dung, in the last three consecutive years, from 2020 to 2022, the assessment by MIC is nearly the same with the UN with the indexes in national digital transformation and the component indexes in digital government, digital economy and digital society steadily increasing year after year.The preparatory work for the 9th Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians and National Assembly high-ranking working visit to some Latin American countries was also one of important issues put at discussion at the working session.