Two important goals in the National Committee on Digital Transformation’s digitisation plan for 2022 are to have 85% of the population own a smartphone and 75% of all households be connected to broadband Internet.
The plan, promulgated by the Prime Minister and the committee’s chairman, Pham Minh Chinh, outlines goals for digital infrastructure, e-government, and the digital economy and society.
According to a press release, to build a digital government, the goal for this year is to increase the rate of online public services to 80%, the rate of administrative procedures dossiers processed online to 50%, and the rate of digitisation of dossiers and results of administrative procedures to 100%. Also, the rate of reports made online by state administrative agencies to 50% as well as the rate of state agencies providing full open data by category to 50%.
Regarding the development of the digital economy and society, targets include the percentage of small and medium-sized enterprises using digital platforms to reach 30%, the rate of enterprises using e-invoices to reach 100%, and the rate of enterprises using e-contracts to be 50%. The government wants the proportion of e-commerce revenue in the total retail sales to reach 7%, and the percentage of people aged 15 or older with transaction accounts at banks or other authorised organizations to reach 65-70%.
Under the plan, there are 18 tasks assigned to the committee’s members, which include universalising smartphones, electronic identities, and broadband fibre optic cables. It also aims to enhance network information safety and security, develop electronic health records, support online teaching, and digitally transform small and medium-sized enterprises.
Other goals involve comprehensively promoting digital payment methods, boosting e-commerce and digital commerce, focussing on smart urban planning, and increasing spending on scientific research for digital transformation. It aims to operationalise an agricultural database and create a national database on cadres, civil servants, and public employees. The government aims for the total amount of non-cash payments of tuition and hospital fees to reach at least 50% by the end of this year.
The country is also looking to improve telecommunications infrastructure and digital content services. Earlier this month, OpenGov Asia reported that at the recent World Mobile Broadband and ICT Summit, an official from the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) said the government wants to master broadband infrastructure, 5G equipment infrastructure, and made-in-Vietnam technology platforms.
According to statistics of the MIC’s Authority of Telecommunications, in 2021, Vietnam had 70.9 million mobile broadband subscribers, accounting for 57.23% of total mobile subscribers and representing an increase of more than 4% compared to 2020. In 2022, the authority aims to have 85% mobile broadband subscribers per 100 people. As of October 2021, the country had more than 18.8 million fixed broadband Internet subscribers. Around the same time, Vietnam had 71 million mobile broadband subscribers, with 89.81% prepaid and 10.19% postpaid.
The country's foreign debt obligation increased slightly, by 6.8% of total export last year. According to the bulletin, Japan, South Korea, France, and Germany are Vietnam’s most significant bilateral creditors. As of 2021, Japan had lent $15.3 billion; to South Korea ($1.36 billion) and France ($1.28 billion).
Topping the list of multilateral partners lending to Vietnam where the World Bank (WB), with $16.2 billion; and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with $8.032 billion. This year, the government is expected to borrow a maximum of $30 billion, of which 96% are loans to balance the central budget.
If the GDP in 2022 grows as expected, the government calculates that public debt will be about: 43-44% of GDP.
Source: CCIPV / Open Gov