HÀ NỘI — The e-commerce market has experienced rapid growth, leading to a surge in demand for highly skilled talent.

The country’s e-commerce market surpassed US$25 billion last year, growing by 22 per cent year-on-year, and now accounts for approximately nine per cent of total retail sales in goods and consumer services.

Meanwhile, the human resources for e-commerce were currently both lacking and weak, said Nguyễn Hữu Tuấn, director of the Centre for E-commerce and Digital Technology Development (eComDX) under the Việt Nam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency, Ministry of Industry and Trade, at the workshop on technology management in the digital age held in Hà Nội on Tuesday.

To solve this situation, Tuấn believed that the 'on-demand' training model between the State and enterprises was a potential solution. This is a flexible model that meets market demand, providing both theoretical knowledge and focusing on practice, effectively connecting labour supply and demand.

However, for this model to operate effectively and sustainably, there needed to be clear and transparent co-ordination between the State and enterprises, he said.

Training programmes, even those 'on-demand', also needed to ensure the provision of basic knowledge and core skills, helping students adapt to the ever-changing e-commerce environment in the long term, he added.

In addition, he said that e-commerce training programmes were increasingly diverse and had positive changes thanks to the application of new technology.

Some universities have begun to integrate subjects related to new technologies into their curricula, such as AI applications in e-commerce, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, AI in finance, big data management and analysis.

The Việt Nam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency has also implemented many digital technology training programmes for businesses and local departments to raise awareness and increase capacity to apply technology to e-commerce activities.

From a domestic policy perspective, Dr Nguyễn Minh Thảo from the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), affirmed that Việt Nam has made significant progress in developing the digital economy but still faces numerous challenges, such as a shortage of digital talent, limited innovation capacity, and inconsistencies in policies to encourage R&D investment.

"To move fast and sustainably, the institutions must stay ahead of technology. We need to expand the policy experimentation space, promote sandbox models and develop soft policies to support businesses, while ensuring the safety of digital systems and managing systemic risks," Thảo emphasised.

Resolution 57-NQ/TW represented a political turning point as it was the first time that digital transformation, innovation, and science and technology had been identified as three strategic breakthroughs in the country's development, she added.

The objectives have been set that by 2030, Việt Nam aims to be among the top three ASEAN countries in AI research capacity and by 2045, the digital economy is expected to contribute at least 50 per cent of GDP. — VNS