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IT Can Prepare Country for Economic Leap (20/6)
20/06/2011 - 13 Lượt xem
The summit discussed three major topics regarding the macro view and trend for ICT in Vietnam. These are one, creating ICT soft infrastructure for socioeconomic development, two, drafting policies for ICT development and three, encouraging ICT workforce development.
In his speech, which was a spotlight of the summit, Dato Dan E Khoo, the chairman of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), said that digital technology has changed, is changing and will totally change our life in all areas - politics, society, recreation and more. For this reason, now is time for businesses to take the opportunities offered and adapt themselves to the general global trend.
Truong Gia Binh, the chairman of the Vietnam Software Association (VINASA), said that although Vietnam's ICT sector was not particularly large, it has always rapidly grown, contributing to modernizing the country, improving living standards and working conditions, and curbing the consumer price index, which has increased from month to month. The growth in the ICT sector for years now is 3-4 times more than the annual growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). ICT applications have also been developed and widely adopted.
More than one quarter of the Vietnamese population has used the Internet. The number of mobile phone subscribers is a little more than 1.5 times the total population (amounting to 12 million). Each and every organization/business has used computers, software and the Internet, for contact and social affairs.
Statistics by the Ministry of Information and Communications show that ICT revenue totaled US$16 billion in 2010 and that software and digital content grew the most rapidly.
Through adopting the "Making Vietnam Quickly Become an ICT Power" project, the ICT sector must become an important engine that will ensure growth and sustainable development in Vietnam, contribute 8-10 percent of the GDP by 2020 and making Vietnam one of the top ten countries regarding software processing and digital content services and one from one third of countries leading in e-government readiness.
Vietnam has overcome the low-income level as per capita income has reached US$1,100 per annum. However, it is a major challenge for the country to avoid the "middle-income poverty trap" and become a high-income nation. Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, the director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics and the chairman of the Scientific Council of the institute, said that Vietnam should take advantage as a follower of world advanced ICT countries to make rapid leaps in technology that would lead to economic leaps. However, to make rapid leaps in technology, particularly in ICT soft infrastructure, Vietnam needs to solve two major problems related to institutions and workforce development, which are soft infrastructure that would create economic leaps and protect Vietnam against the "middle-income poverty trap".
Regarding institutions, Politburo Instruction 58 took effect 10 years ago, and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung recently adopted the project to make Vietnam an ICT power. However, Dr. Mai Liem Truc said that the leaders are just ready to support ICT businesses, rather than directly take part in ICT development. He said that this is a big shortcoming because leaders who have a good knowledge of ICT would find the best way for the country to grow using ICT tools.
A trained workforce is also a great concern for international training organizations, employers and representatives of the Ministry of Education and Training. Analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the Vietnamese labor force, participants in the summit believed that Vietnam has a strong workforce, most being young, hardworking, ambitious and studious. However, they do not have sufficient experience, soft skills and foreign language skills, meaning that they have failed to keep pace with the developments globally./.
Source: VEN
