A conference on the Industrial revolution 4.0 was held in Ha Noi recently to discuss opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese enterprises brought by the revolution.

Can Van Luc, director of BIDV Training School, said that the revolution will help firms reduce management costs and improve access to information and modern technologies to support the development of new products and open more opportunities.

However, opportunities often go along with challenges, for example, when changing business model or culture, the enterprises must be able to manage the changes.

In addition, investing capital effectively and running the company smoothly are also obstacles that companies face. Especially in the era of internet of things, businesses must be careful of cyber-attacks.

Luc evaluated the banking sector as one of the most likely to be impacted by the 4th industrial revolution, as humans could be substituted with robots and artificial intelligence.

Although the revolution might make many jobs disappear, it is an inevitable revolution that people could either choose to join or be excluded from, said Truong Gia Binh, chairman of FPT Corporation.

He also emphasised that this revolution was much bigger than previous ones, which caused a tremendous impact on all aspects of life such as healthcare and business. It could also change the structure of industries in the world and the lives of humans.

A study of some 2,000 small and medium-sized enterprises showed that 85 per cent of domestic firms were concerned about the 4th industrial revolution, of which, 55 per cent thought that the revolution would have a huge impact on Viet Nam’s economy.

However, 79 per cent of participants said they were doing nothing to prepare for the revolution, 55 per cent are researching, 19 per cent have made plans and only 12 per cent are carrying out plans.

Binh said that the biggest advantage for Vietnamese businesses was that the whole world entered the 4.0 revolution at the same starting point. If Vietnamese firms quickly invest in research and development of products for the revolution, Viet Nam’s place in the international market may be completely different.

Luc also reminded domestic firms to absorb the latest information, assess its impact on business activities and develop appropriate strategies.

The event was organised by FPT School of Business, in collaboration with Centre for Small and Medium Enterprises Support, Department of Planning and Investment in Ha Noi. — VNS