According to the Ministry of Information & Communications, in 2017, the IT sector has revenue of 75 billion USD, up 13% compared to 2016, in which revenue from hardware is of 66 billion USD, contributing to the state budget of 1.6 billion USD, up 8% compared to the same period of 2016.
With regard to IT export in 2017, the revenue of 66 billion USD, up 14.4% compared to 2016, while software export is expected to reach 2.5 billion USD. Many products and services of IT met requirements of the domestic and international market, supporting the development of IT, ensure the safety of information and the sovereignty of country.
As of present, Vietnam has more than 27,000 IT enterprises and 4 Hi-tech parks. However, the Ministry of Information & Communications informed that in recent years, despite an increasing trend of IT universities and vocational schools offering more places for students, the rate of students applying for these institutions has been declining.
In reality, despite 2/3 universities and vocational schools offering training courses for IT, electronics and telecommunications, but a high number of students do not get employed after graduation. In contrast, IT enterprises are often experience the situation of lacking high qualified personnel. One of the reasons for this above situation is the training quality does not meet the needs of the labor market, especially of practical skills, soft skills and foreign language skill.
In order for Vietnam to become an ideal destination for foreign investors in IT sector, it is necessary to review and update policies supporting investors, so that it will become a major part in the process of country’s digitization. VIF 2017 also offered recommendations with regard to the IT policies and related regulation of Vietnam to meet new requirements in investment and business in digital economy. In which, the government should focus on advantages and strength of Vietnam in attracting multinational companies, regulations to facilitate investment for digital enterprises in Vietnam.
In the context of industrial revolution 4.0, it proves that investment in IT can facilitate investment in other economic sectors, at the same time, opening new doors for enterprises to operate sustainable in the future.
During the process of investment attraction, Vietnam has become attractive destination for IT investors both in local and foreign countries. In 2016, total revenue in the IT sector was 67.6 billion USD, while the IT related products export is more than 60 billion USD, in which foreign investors contribute a large part.
With regard to the potential of Vietnam’s digital market, among new business models based on the digital platform, such as sharing economy and solutions to facilitate market development in some aspects of digital economy, such as: e-commerce, creative start-ups, sharing economy and smart cities related services. As such, opportunities and challenges to attract investment in digital economy in Vietnam are analyzed and discussed.
