Digital and green transformation determined as strategic choices

The Việt Nam - Asia DX Summit 2024 was officially opened in Hà Nội on Tuesday afternoon.

Việt Nam has put digital and green transformation as strategic choices, the Minister of Information and Communications Nguyễn Mạnh Hùng said at the opening of the Việt Nam - Asia Digital Transformation (DX) Summit 2024 on Tuesday.

The 2024 summit, opened in Hà Nội, is an annual event organised by the Việt Nam Software and IT Services Association (VINASA) under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC).

Speaking at the opening of the summit, the minister cited that the green economy contributed about 2 per cent of Việt Nam's GDP with a growth rate of over 10 per cent in 2020. The country's digital economy also contributed 12 per cent of GDP in the year.

However, the digital economy, according to MIC calculations, contributed 16.5 per cent of GDP and with a growth rate of over 20 per cent last year.

Specifically the two fields of digital transformation and green transition have growth rates at least twice or up to four times higher than the country's GDP growth rate.

Also at the forum, the minister emphasised that digital and green transformation would be the two most important transformations of the early 21st century.

"These two transformations will fundamentally change the lives of all of us. Digital and green transformation are twins, they go together and support each other. If we want a rapid development, you must do digital transformation and if we want a sustainable development, we must also do green transition. So these two transformations will ensure a fast and sustainable development for the country," he said.

Minister Hùng also said: "We will focus on developing the digital economy with four pillars: information technology and communications industry, digital economy development in all sectors, digital management and digital data," he said.

Trương Gia Bình, chairman of the Founding Council of VINASA, said that the country was witnessing a remarkable increase in the demand for digital transformation in Việt Nam and Asia.

"The whole world is entering a period of intelligent development with two trends: digital and green transformation, which are both a driving force, an opportunity, but also a huge challenge. To exploit the potential of digital - green transformation, creating dual development in both digital and green economy, Việt Nam needs to pioneer in developing the fields of artificial intelligence, semiconductor chips, and smart electric vehicles. It is necessary to focus human and financial resources on the technology fields in this area," said Bình.

He cited the World Bank's 2023 report on the dual transformation trend and pointed out that Việt Nam held 15 per cent of the total 493 green patents in emerging markets, only behind Malaysia (51 per cent) and Thailand (20 per cent).

Meanwhile, in terms of digital transformation technologies, the country accounts for 8 per cent of the total 537 patents of developing economies, behind Malaysia (58 per cent), Philippines (16 per cent) and Thailand (11 per cent).

In addition to seven seminar and conference sessions, the Việt Nam - Asia DX Summit 2024 will host exhibitions showing off digital transformation solutions from technology businesses, and offer trade connections between domestic and international businesses.

The two-day forum has attracted the participation of more than 2,000 delegates who are leaders and experts from 17 economies in the region and 35 provinces and cities across the country.