National digital transformation: From start-up to acceleration, towards real value

Five years since the Government issued the National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with a vision to 2030, the digitalization journey in Vietnam has spread widely. From the central to local levels, from state agencies to businesses and people, digital transformation has become an inevitable trend, the mainstream in national development.

Permanent Deputy Minister Vu Hai Quan delivered the opening speech of the Program to celebrate National Digital Transformation Day 2025

The foundation has been firmly laid

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the National Digital Transformation Day 2025, Permanent Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan emphasized: After 5 years of implementing the National Digital Transformation Program, Vietnam has passed the starting stage and is entering the acceleration stage.

The Deputy Minister said that from the initial, uncertain steps, digital transformation is now present in life, in every service, every production and business activity, every administrative procedure. From VNeID, online transactions, to familiar utilities such as Zalo, e-wallets or the Public Service Portal, people have truly felt the benefits that digital transformation brings. In the first phase, the focus of the Program is to raise awareness, build infrastructure, platforms and basic digital services. The results achieved are an important foundation for the next step of development.

Digital infrastructure has developed strongly. Broadband telecommunications network has covered 99.3% of villages and hamlets nationwide; average mobile internet speed reached 146.64 Mbps, ranked 20th in the world; 5G network has been deployed with 26% coverage. This is a solid foundation for Vietnam to enter the period of service explosion and digital economy .

Digital government has made remarkable progress. The rate of online public services used by people has increased sharply, of which the entire online settlement process reached nearly 40%, 9 times higher than in 2019. According to the United Nations' assessment, Vietnam's Digital Government ranking has increased by 15 places compared to the previous announcement (2022), reflecting efforts to build an e-government, towards an effective and people-friendly digital government.

The digital economy has become an important growth driver. The IT industry's revenue in 2024 will reach about VND2,772 trillion (equivalent to USD118 billion), up 24% over the previous year. Hardware and electronics exports will increase by 29%. The digital economy currently contributes 14-15% of GDP and is moving towards the target of 20% by 2025. These figures show that the digital sector has truly become a new pillar of the economy.

Many national digital platforms have been put into use, creating breakthroughs in governance and serving the people. In particular, the COVID-19 pandemic is a "100-year push" to accelerate the digitalization process, forming a series of important platforms such as the Government Online Meeting System, the National Population Database, the Land Database, and the National Public Service Portal. Along with that, the electronic identification and authentication infrastructure has been formed, creating a platform for people to conduct safe and convenient online transactions.

Along with that, the institutions and policies on digital transformation are increasingly improved. From Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW of the Politburo to digital transformation programs and plans of ministries, branches and localities, along with the development of the Digital Transformation Law, all demonstrate the determination of the political system in creating a solid legal corridor for the comprehensive digitalization process.

"The above results show that the foundation for national digital transformation has basically been formed. From infrastructure, services to institutions, we are ready to enter a new phase with higher determination and more drastic actions," Deputy Minister Vu Hai Quan emphasized.

Phase 2026–2030: Focus on creating value

According to Permanent Deputy Minister Vu Hai Quan, the 2026–2030 period will be a period of deeper digital transformation, focusing on measurable economic and social values. If the 2020–2025 period was the period of “building the foundation”, the next period is “accelerating and optimizing”.

Permanent Deputy Minister Vu Hai Quan pointed out: "The ultimate goal of phase 2 digital transformation is to transform digital achievements into economic growth, improve productivity and national competitiveness; improve governance efficiency and decision-making quality at all levels. In other words, we must aim for the final result, measured by the benefits brought to people, businesses and the economy."

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung delivered a speech at the program to celebrate National Digital Transformation Day 2025.

"Switching from thinking to action, from digitalization to creating digital value"

In his speech, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung acknowledged and highly appreciated the achievements made over the past five years, and pointed out the bottlenecks that need to be promptly removed.

"Many mechanisms and policies are not yet synchronized, not yet approaching international standards and not yet keeping up with the development of science and technology. Infrastructure and digital data are still scattered, data sharing between agencies is still limited. Digital human resources, especially high-quality human resources, are still lacking. Many localities and small businesses have not yet accessed the benefits of digital transformation; in some places, the way of doing things is still formal, just a movement, and the effectiveness has not reached the people,".

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung affirmed that if the problem is not resolved quickly, the national digital transformation process will be hindered. "It is time for us to strongly shift from thinking to action, from digitalization to creating digital values, turning actions into real results," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Highly appreciating the theme of Digital Transformation by 2025 chosen by the Ministry of Science and Technology as "Faster, more effective, closer to the people", Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Chi Dung affirmed: "This is the spirit that the whole system needs to thoroughly grasp: taking speed as the decisive factor, taking efficiency as the destination, and taking people as the center, as the subject, as the target, as the resource."

Center for Science and Technology Communication

Source: https://mst.gov.vn/chuyen-doi-so-quoc-gia-tu-khoi-dong-den-tang-toc-huong-toi-gia-tri-thuc-197251021131237248.htm