Prime Minister urges measures to boost national digital transformation

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh today (April 24) urged government agencies, local authorities and telecom companies to embark on three intensifications and five promotions to better carry out the national strategy for digital transformation.

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Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs the nationwide meeting on digital transformation. Photo:  VGP

At the meeting of the National Committee for Digital Transformation, the Prime Minister called on all stakeholders to raise people's awareness of digital transformation, allocate all necessary resources for digital transformation, and improve the partnership between the public and private sectors.

He highlighted the five intensifications, namely intensification of institutional improvement to create a complete legal framework for national digital transformation and digital economy; intensification of digital infrastructure and digital platform development; intensification of digital data creation and digital service development to ensure seamless connection, connectivity and sharing; intensification of digital human resource training and digital skills; and intensification of cyber security and information security.

The Prime Minister also pointed out three enhancements, which are: the enhancement of awareness of the role of digital transformation of each citizen and company, especially the leader; the enhancement of resources for digital transformation; and the enhancement of public-private partnership, activating all social resources for digital transformation.

Emphasizing the need for a sound legal framework to accelerate digital transformation, the head of government stressed that Vietnam needs to further develop its digital infrastructure, economy, database, services and workforce, ensure seamless connectivity and strengthen cybersecurity across the country.

"More resources need to be allocated to fulfill the tasks of the National Digital Transformation Program and the three strategies on e-government, digital economy, and digital society," he said. "The government expects that the drastic measures will move Vietnam up five places in the United Nations' E-Government Development Index and place Vietnam among the top 30 countries in the Global Cybersecurity Index," Chinh added.

To achieve these results, Prime Minister Chinh has tasked the Ministry of Information and Communications to submit national plans to develop the semiconductor industry and its workforce, with a vision for 2045.

He also called for coordination between government agencies, local authorities and telecom operators to ensure that all remote areas are covered by mobile networks by December and to improve the quality of broadband.

Prime Minister Chinh also asked government agencies to bring the remaining 12 of the 53 basic public services online soon. All this is expected to be completed in May.

Furthermore, government agencies and local authorities were instructed to review and assess the quality of cybersecurity under their jurisdiction in accordance with guidelines issued by the ministries of Public Security, National Defense and Information and Communications.

2024 - the year of digital database

According to the National Committee for Digital Transformation, 21 ministries and sectors and 62 provinces have formulated their digital transformation plans for 2024. Digital databases are now available in 14 ministries and sectors and 52 provinces. The national population database is now connected to 18 ministries and sectors and all 63 cities and provinces. 

To date, the national database has validated 268 million pieces of citizen information and processed more than 1.5 billion requests for information verification.

About 80% of Vietnamese households have access to fiber-optic broadband internet; 100% of communes use fiber-optic connectivity; 4G mobile coverage is close to 100% of the population; and more than 80% of public services are delivered online.

The ratio of the digital economy to total GDP was 11.9% in 2021 and 14.3% in 2022. The ratio is estimated to be 16.5% in 2023 and is expected to grow by 20% per year in the near future. In Q1/2024, the total revenue of the IT industry increased by 18% year-on-year to nearly US$36.3 billion, and exports of IT products increased by 17% year-on-year to US$31 billion.

At the conference, local authorities, government agencies and telecom companies urged the government to update policies and improve state management capabilities in digital transformation and digital human resources.

They also called for greater efforts to improve administrative performance and public service delivery,  develop a shared digital database,  adopt digital solutions and platforms in management and operations, and further strengthen infrastructures to ensure cyber security.

Concluding the meeting, Prime Minister Chinh acknowledged the efforts of all stakeholders in the national digital transformation. "Digital transformation is now present in every family, every street, and every person. It has brought benefits to all socio-economic development activities, businesses, people, and society."

He urged stakeholders to work more effectively and efficiently to simplify government services, improve cybersecurity and develop infrastructure to better serve people and businesses.