To Asia Watch

Vietnam ups its tech game

Published: September 27, 2019

'Industry 4.0' summit to engage emerging technologies . . . 

Government officials from Vietnam’s Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission and Ministry of Investment and Planning are poised to evaluate the implementation of the country’s new strategy for ‘Industry 4.0,’ which refers to automation, integration, and optimization of production processes by data and machine learning. At a summit October 2-3 in Hanoi, 2,500 government leaders and representatives from embassies, consulates, international organizations, and businesses will gather to discuss the role of emerging technologies in Vietnam’s bustling economy. Workshops will focus on smart banking, smart city, smart production, smart energy, and digital economy.

A leader within ASEAN . . .

According to the ‘Industry 4.0’ strategy first released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment in July, Vietnam hopes to position itself as the leading digital economy of ASEAN and one of the top three ASEAN countries in the Global Competitiveness Index by 2030. The first phase (2020-2022) of the strategy will digitalize industrial sectors and state agencies to improve operational efficiency and build the digital ecosystem by developing infrastructure, building the legal environment, and supporting SMEs and digital start-ups. The second phase (2023-2025) will focus on improving labour productivity and competitiveness, while the third phase (2026-2030) will see the formation of a comprehensive digital economy across industries with the addition of artificial intelligence and the Internet of things.

Focus on manufacturing . . .

Vietnam’s manufacturing sector is increasingly attracting more investment, especially from South Korea and Japan. Japan’s trading group Sumitomo Corp. will spend over US$177 million on its expansion of two industrial parks in Vietnam to serve businesses shifting their production facilities from China to Vietnam. Google has announced that it will move its production of Pixel phones from China to Vietnam, while Grab plans to invest US$500 million in Vietnam’s fintech sector in the next five years. Vietnam’s start-up market is now the third largest in Southeast Asia. As members of the CPTPP, Canada and Vietnam have an opportunity to strengthen investment and commercial relations, particularly in manufacturing and tech sectors.

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