Ho Chi Minh City promotes digital transformation in businesses

Supporting businesses

According to Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Planning and Investment, the city currently has more than 32,344 enterprises of different scales. The city plans to support more than 1,600 businesses in digital transformation as a transition to a large-scale transformation process in the city.

Chairman of the Digital Transformation Alliance for Small and Medium Enterprises (DTS) Truong Gia Bao assessed that digital transformation in industrial production will help businesses maximize their revenue, reduce costs, improve product quality and increase flexibility. The Ho Chi Minh City Export Processing and Industrial Zones Authority Business Association (HBA), the BambuUP innovation platform and DTS recently launched the Digital Business Development Program – Go Digital – to support digital transformation and innovation in Ho Chi Minh City in 2022.

Enterprises enhance digital transformation applications

The program will help businesses select prioritized industries for the development of new technologies to improve operational efficiency and competitiveness. It will also comprehensively support more than 1,600 enterprises in export processing zones (EPZ), industrial zones (IZ) and high-tech zones in Ho Chi Minh City with digital transformation solutions and applications suitable for each type and size of business.

Chief Operating Officer of the DTS Alliance Nguyen Ngoc Quynh said that Go Digital has been under development for three years. The main highlights this year include the Digital Transformation and Innovation Index Report for EPZ and IZ enterprises and the Chain of Activities Evaluation application that measures efficiency with more than 30 digital transformation workshops and seminars in 18 EPZs, IZs, and high-tech zones in the city.

Support for young scientists

According to Nguyen Viet Dung, Director of Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Science and Technology, there is much room for digital transformation in the city’s businesses. Currently, the city is restructuring its science and technology program, focusing on developing applied research and solving urgent problems. Specifically, the city has urged scientists to develop digital transformation solutions in administration, public services, and in activities of manufacturing enterprises.

Using practical application of technology solutions for management at the Quang Trung Software City (QTSC), the country’s first green and smart urban model, QTSC introduced applications suitable for many EPZs and IZs. They include a smart video management software (VMS); guard control and monitor system (Migard); and the Integrated Operation Center QTSC IOC. These activities have contributed to lifting QTSC to a smart industrial park of regional and Asian level.

To facilitate digital transformation in the city's EPZs and IZs, the city still has much work to do. The participation of experts, the business community and city authorities will provide administrators and businesses with actual experiences in new technologies applied in the smart IZs.

The city's Department of Science and Technology is currently adopting policies to support scientists through programs like the Incubator for Young Science and Technology, research, development and innovation programs.

Dr. Pham Binh An, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Development Research Institute: Startups are the leaders in digital transformation, creating and marketing their products. The state only plays the role of orienting research fields and implementing support policies in this field.

Thanh Thanh