Many firms in Việt Nam said they have a digital strategy. — Photo courtesy of CPA Australia

Vietnamese businesses are more likely to include a digital strategy as part of their organisational strategy, when compared with businesses in other markets, a CPA Australia survey shows.

Seventy-four per cent of survey respondents from Việt Nam said their business or employer had a digital strategy, compared to the Asia-Pacific average of 63 per cent.

This is contributing to Vietnamese businesses having good levels of technology adoption, with the key benefits being improved operational efficiency, enhanced employee satisfaction and improved cybersecurity, according to the Business Technology Report 2024.

CPA Australia’s Regional Head for Southeast Asia, Priya Terumalay FCPA, said: “Better business outcomes far outweigh any hesitation to technology adoption despite the financial cost and low return on investment remaining a key challenge, especially for smaller businesses.”

An impressive 98 per cent of Vietnamese businesses cited improved operational efficiency as a key benefit from their technology investment, while improvements to cybersecurity stand at 91 per cent and improvements to the customer experience at 87 per cent.

“Vietnamese businesses place a high level of importance on the accuracy, security and privacy of the financial data they hold,” Priya said.

Close to three-quarters of businesses rated this of the highest level of importance, saying that data security and privacy are essential to a business’s reputation and data quality is critical to the effectiveness of AI and other technology.

One of the key barriers to technology adoption in Việt Nam is the shortage of technology talent, the report pointed out.

“Many local businesses are responding to the tech talent shortages by upskilling and reskilling their existing employees and investing in automation rather than adding new employees,” Priya said.

Meanwhile, 46 per cent of respondents invested in upskilling the technology capabilities of their entire team, including the board, against the survey average of 40 per cent.

Nearly eight in ten Vietnamese businesses said they have used AI in the last 12 months, compared with the survey average of 69 per cent. While most businesses only use AI some of the time, this is likely to change in the coming 12 months as local businesses nominated AI as the technology they are most likely to increase their use of.

“It’s not surprising that Vietnamese businesses are looking to increase their use of AI. Most using the technology say that it improves their business by increasing productivity, automating repetitive tasks, and improving the accuracy of those tasks,” Priya said.

“Change is everywhere in Việt Nam as more investment pours in. Businesses must be quick to adapt and improve their capabilities to take advantage of this environment and technology, including AI and cybersecurity, is fundamental to that,” she added. — VNS