HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City will implement a plan to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with digital transformation to create a new growth driver for them while boosting socio-economic development, a conference has heard in HCM City last week.

The city's Department of Information and Communications and Phu Nhuan district organised the conference on September 13 titled "Implementing the Digital Transformation Support Programme and the Pilot Programme for Surveying, Measuring, and Assessing the Current Status and Readiness for E-commerce and Digital Transformation of Enterprises, Household Businesses, Wholesale and Retail Stores in Phu Nhuan district."

Tran Minh Tuan, Director of the Ministry of Information and Communications’ Department of Digital Economy and Digital, said Vietnam’s e-commerce retail market grew at 16-25% in 2018-2023 to rise to third in Southeast Asia behind only Malaysia and the Philippines.

Yet its proportion of e-commerce to total retail sales is only 8%, he said, far below the global average of 19.4% and especially that of China (43%), the UK (35%), the Republic of Korea (28%), and the US (26%). This shows there is substantial room for growth, he said.

But Tuan also referred to challenges like the dominance of foreign firms in e-commerce.

The ministry has approved a programme to help retailers make digital transformation and chosen Phu Nhuan district to pilot it before rolling it out nationwide, he said.

Within one month the district will conduct a survey to assess the current state of digital transformation among 2,000 local wholesale and retail businesses to identify their specific needs and accessibility, challenges and barriers to the process.

This would lay the groundwork for connecting them with technology solutions providers and offer support measures, he added.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Pham Duc Long, said: “Vietnam has 1.4 million grocery stores and 9,000 traditional markets. Wholesale and retail activities contributed 9.83% to GDP in 2023, highlighting the immense importance of this sector in driving the country’s economic development and job creation. Therefore, supporting the wholesale and retail sector with digital transformation is essential."

Do Dang Ai, Vice Chairman of the Phu Nhuan People's Committee, said the pilot implementation of the programme would create favourable conditions for businesses and households in his district to access digital transformation initiatives.

But 95% of them are small or micro businesses, and they face difficulties in going digital, he said.

Lam Dinh Thang, Director of the city’s Department of Information and Communications, said the data from the survey will also serve as a preference for the city in orienting its long-run digital economic development.

He highlighted that efforts to accelerate digital economy development are on, and the city hopes the digital economy would account for 22% of its economy in 2024, rising to 40% by 2030.

The city has identified digital technology as a driver of economic growth and is prioritising key sectors such as education, healthcare, tourism and social security.

𒁏 It would provide financial support, consultancy and digital transformation solutions for businesses and organisations, including to cooperatives and household enterprises that meet the required criteria, he added./.