At the press conference organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) on Monday. — Photo vtv.vn

There are currently over 1,500 Vietnamese digital technology enterprises which are providing services and products to foreign markets, bringing in a revenue of US$7.5 billion.

The details were given at the regular press conference organised by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) on Monday.

Amidst difficulties faced by the local information technology market, businesses have sought to operate in foreign markets, which helps increasing revenues and affirming the reputation of the Make-in-Việt Nam digital product brands, said Lê Nam Trung, deputy director of the MIC’s Authority of ICT Industry and Communications.

"It is estimated that revenue from foreign markets contributes about 80 per cent of the total revenue of Vietnamese digital technology enterprises," said Trung.

The MIC is accelerating the progress of drafting the Law on Digital Technology Industry and policies to encourage domestic digital technology firms to do business abroad is an important part of the law, creating favourable conditions for them, he added.

The department has initiated many measures to support the digital technology businesses, such as establishing a consulting group to support local digital technology businesses penetrating foreign markets, promoting Vietnamese digital technology products abroad in general and promoting software exports in particular.

The ministry has organised six delegations to support businesses overseas and last year went to countries including Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US, Japan and Spain to connect up fifty Vietnamese businesses to more than 3,000 international ones.

The ministry has organised more than a hundred business to business meetings between Vietnamese information technology companies and foreign businesses.

There was good revenue growth in the sector last year. According to one survey, the export market for software and information technology services grew by about 4-8 per cent in 2023, in spite of global uncertainties. Software production revenues are estimated to reach about $4.3 billion in 2023, with export revenues forecast to reach about $4 billion.

Centre for Excellence

Seeing artificial intelligence (AI) as a key technology of the fourth Industrial Revolution and semiconductor as a spearhead industry of the nation in the next 30-50 years, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has bolstered cooperation with powers to develop these domains, Trung said.

The ministry will join hands with competent organisations and enterprises to train high-quality human resources, work with the US-based Nvidia Corporation, a world leader in AI computing, to build an AI establishment called Centre for Excellence, while organising international conferences to acquire experiences from leading specialists, he stressed.

Trung went on to say that Việt Nam is penning a strategy to develop the semiconductor industry until 2030 with a vision to 2045, envisioning to become a centre for the semiconductor chip industry by 2030 with operation in design, packaging and testing.

The MIC was assigned to build mechanisms and supporting incentives to develop semiconductor human resources, he said, adding it will coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment to carry out a project on semiconductor human resources development by 2030 with a vision to 2045, ensuring that it is in accordance with the strategy’s targets.

The two ministries will study and recommend measures to encourage technology firms’ engagement in human resources training, R&D activities and technology transfer, he stressed.

Regarding the semiconductor industry development strategy being built and implemented in 2024 by the MIC, Trung said the ministry charted a vision that Việt Nam, with a developed semiconductor industry by 2045, will be a key link in the global supply chain.

The industry will boast harmonised infrastructure in terms of human resources, technologies, R&D, among others, making contributions to the sustainable development of the digital industry that creates a foundation for the country’s digital transformation as well as the building of digital economy and digital government, he added. — VNS