Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that 2023 was National Digital Data Year, with the view that digital data is a national resource and foundation of development. Data needs to be used effectively to serve the digital economy, digital society and digital citizen development.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung affirmed that 2023 was the year of data – protecting personal digital data; announcing and building databases at ministerial and local levels; expanding data to connect and share information; ensuring data security; building national big data centers; and processing digital data to create new values for the national economy.

The implementation of Plan 06 on developing and applying databases on population has brought benefits to people. The data about the population has been used to provide public services, such as granting and extending driving licenses and passports online.

In 2020, there were only 10 million connected and shared transactions. In 2023, 2 million transactions were conducted each day. Thanks to this, 528 administrative procedures have been simplified. 

Businesses now have to wait only six days to make business registration as the number of procedures has reduced from four to one.

Digital institutional regime

2023 was considered the year when MIC gathered strength to complete institutions to ensure a legal framework for activities in cyberspace and digital infrastructure.

The Law on Electronic Transactions was approved on June 22, 2023. The Law on Telecommunications (amended) was ratified on November 24, 2023. They are expected to be a platform for digital transformation.

Digital citizens

People have benefited from digital transformation and Make in Vietnam digital platforms. For example, they can quickly fulfill procedures at airports if they have smartphones with VneID installed, and can apply for visas online. Many localities have applied digital technology to allow businesses to easily access public services at any time or place.

Digital safety

In 2023, MIC applied measures to prevent and control swindling, gambling and black credit in cyberspace and block spam calls. Necessary solutions have also been applied to ‘clean’ subscribers’ information, and show phone numbers of public agencies when calling people so as to prevent scams.

On June 23, MIC launched "Month of action to promote awareness and prevention of online fraud" aiming to help people discover 24 scam types common on Vietnam’s cyberspace. The ‘Anti Fake News’ message was responded to by many content creators.

Digital firms

Vietnam has emerged as a destination of the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturers.

In October 2023, Amkor Technology inaugurated a $1.6 billion factory in Bac Ninh province. Samsung stated it is considering manufacturing semiconductor parts in Vietnam. Vietnamese FPT and Viettel have been designing and manufacturing chips.

Regarding the Make in Vietnam campaign, more than 40 platforms were built in 2019-2022. The number of platforms in 2023 alone increased by 46.2 percent and by the end of the year, Vietnam had over 60 platforms, each of which has over 1 million monthly users.

Digital economy

The latest report by Google, Temasek and Bain & Co shows that Vietnam is one of the ‘bright spots’ of Southeast Asian digital economy. The total volume of digital goods in 2023 was estimated at $30 billion, up 19 percent over 2022, and the figure is expected to reach $45 billion by 2025 and $90-200 billion by 2030.

Of this, $16 billion came from the e-commerce GMV (Gross Merchandise Value), $3 billion from transport and food, $5 billion from online travel and $5 billion from online entertainment in 2023.

At the first National Forum on Digital Economy and Digital Society held in mid-September 2023, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said Vietnam’s digital economy would account for 20 percent of GDP at minimum by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030.

Digital communications

In 2023, the press continued to show its important role in truthfully reflecting the mainstream of Vietnamese society, creating consensus, spreading positive energy, and creating trust in society. 

In March 2023, Prime Minister issued a Directive on strengthening policy communication work. 

In 2023, MIC for the first time organized a comprehensive inspection of a large cross-border platform in Vietnam - TikTok. This is the first time that Vietnam has asked a cross-border platform to admit its wrongdoings and take corrective measures.

VietNamNet