Leader Talk

Keys for digital Vietnam to thrive in Industry 4.0

By Hoa Dang October 07, 2019 | 08:58 AM GMT+7

Digital technologies are anticipated to power “the new Vietnam”, as the country prepares itself for the fourth industrial revolution.

Rachel Barger, chief operating officer, SAP Asia-Pacific and Japan

Over the last 30 years, Vietnam’s economy has enjoyed an unbroken growth record, with an average GDP growth rate of 6.6 per cent. PwC also projects that by 2050, Vietnam could be among the top 20 economies in the world and top 10 in Asia.

“With a young population, high growth rate and a location in the heart of high-growth Asian economies, Vietnam is powering its way to claim its place in the new digital economy,” said Rachel Barger, chief operating officer, SAP Asia Pacific Japan.

She said that to sustain this growth, Vietnam needs to focus on the 3Ps – the three key pillars are policy, people, and platform.

According to Barger, the transformation journey will be accelerated via policies that encourage technology adoption as well as foster the growth of local industries and startups. These policies include strengthening intellectual property rights, building capacity in the ICT sector, encouraging digital startups and most importantly reforming the education system to be digital ready.

“We are very encouraged by the Vietnamese government’s vision on Industry 4.0 technologies. For example, there are well defined transformation targets, which aims to have 50 per cent enterprises operating on a digital platform by 2025,” she said.

In addition, Vietnam has a population of nearly 100 million people, of which 60 per cent are under the age of 35. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop human resources that serve the demands of a digital economy. 

“In Vietnam, SAP is focusing in preparing youths with knowledge and skills for the digital future through programs such as the ASEAN Data Science Explorers and SAP University Alliances. Our recently announced collaboration with UNICEF Vietnam will accelerate our efforts” she added.

Platform which is the third pillar refers to the intelligent technologies that powers the digital economy. This would require Vietnamese organizations to adopt modern strategies and processes, powered by an intelligent suite of technology solutions to become an intelligent enterprise.

"The unique combination of intelligent solutions would power Vietnamese businesses to do more with less, automate processes, impress customers, empower employees, create revenue and ultimately become an intelligent enterprise", said Barger.

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