Vietnamese enterprises should actively apply the latest forms of automation and data exchange, known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Revolutions 4.0), for production and business as well as corporate governance.

This would promote sustainable development and world integration, a CEO and Technology Forum was told in HCM City on February 7.

A representative from Deloitte Consulting SEA said companies needed to make preparations for and identify suitable areas to apply technologies of the Revolution 4.0.

If initial tests failed, he said businesses would know to redirect their efforts timely. If successful, they would know it was the basis for expansion.

The forum was told that Viet Nam had the advantage that Government and ministries were determined to support to the start-up business community, the application of technology and digitisation.

In addition, the nation also had advantages in human resources and IT infrastructure to promote innovation and technology application to cut production costs and increase productivity.

Tran Ngoc Thai Son, CEO of Tiki.vn, said data held by each business was often insufficient to be effective, so they should think about linking up with large companies to increase their data sources.

In addition, Vietnamese enterprises must actively integrate and co-operate to increase mutual benefits and learn to access international markets.

Nguyen Linh Trang, deputy director of the Saigon Union of Trade Co-operatives (Saigon Co-op), said that the Saigon Co-op has collaborated with Nielsen, a global measurement and data analytics company, to build a consumer database.

During the forum, experts said the e-commerce market in Viet Nam continued to expand. E-commerce companies were rapidly catching up with world trends.

However, according to surveys by the HCM City Department of Trade and Industry, most e-commerce businesses face financial difficulties so they must restructure by reducing the scope of their activities and improving business efficiency. — VNS