At a workshop held on November 22 by the Vietnam Internet Association (VIA) to mark Vietnam Internet Day 2023 (November 19), with the theme “Internet Vietnam: New Spaces, New Opportunities”, five spaces for digital and telecommunication industries to grow in the next decade were identified: cloud computing, digital platform, e-commerce, Make in Vietnam industry, and cyber security.

Addressing the workshop, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Pham Duc Long said Vietnam is among countries where the percentage of internet users shopping online for goods each week is high, at over 60 per cent; higher than the global average of 57.6 per cent. The size of Vietnam’s internet economy reached $23 billion in 2022 and is forecast to reach $49 billion in 2025. Online retail revenue hit $14 billion last year, and is predicted to increase to $32 billion in 2025.

This development has attracted the attention of many investors from developed countries such as the US, Germany, China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, the Deputy Minister added.

The MoIC will soon issue a plan for the development of Vietnam’s international fiber-optic cable network to ensure the safe and sustainable development of its digital infrastructure.

VIA President Vu Hoang Lien told the gathering that as of January, Vietnam had 77.93 million internet users, accounting for 79.1 per cent of the population.

He quoted the e-Conomy SEA 2023 report from Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, as saying that Vietnam’s digital economy will reach $45 billion by 2025.

Speakers at the workshop touched on issues for the sustainable future of Vietnam’s internet ecosystem, new technologies such as AI virtual assistants, generative AI applications in business activities, cloud computing, and electronic payment services.