Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the process of digitaltransformation in businesses, experts said, and has urged companies toconsider their own resources and conditions to ensure and increase efficiency.

Workers at aconstruction site in Hanoi use FaceID on their smartphones to registertheir arrival at work making it faster and more convenient to clock on.

In thelogistics sector, the application of technology was growing. Driversare using their smartphones to track the routes and shipments.

According to theVietnam Logistics Association, between 50 and 60 percent of logisticsenterprises were applying technology in their operations.

At Sai GonNewport Corporation, the application of advanced management system helpedreduce the time shipments stayed at the port by 55 percent and reducedelivery time by 75 percent.

Vu Tuan Anh,deputy director at consulting agency Dr SME, said that digitaltransformation was an inevitable trend of enterprises, especiallyduring the COVID-19 pandemic. If enterprises were slow in digitaltransformation, they would face difficulties when competing with othersespecially in the rapid international integration.

“Digitaltransformation is not simply buying a software or a technology," Anh said."Enterprises must pay attention to their resources and conditions toensure the efficient process of digital transformation.”

Nguyen Hoa Binh,Chairman of NextTech Group, said that micro and small–sized enterprises,despite accounting for 96.7 percent of the total number of enterprises in Vietnam,contributed 40 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) andprovided 60 percent of jobs.

But due totheir limited budgets, they had not benefited much from the digitaltransformation.

Digitaltransformation solution providers often paid more attention to Governmentagencies and medium and large enterprises who had a greater budget and wereoften located in major cities, he said.

Nguyen VănKhoa, CEO of FPT, said that there were about five million household businessesin Vietnam who were also subject to digital transformation at different levels.

A study byCisco showed that the participation of SMEs in Vietnam in the digitaltransformation process could contribute 24-30 billion USD to the countryGDP’s by 2024 and significantly help the post-pandemic recovery.

FPT ChairmanTruong Gia Binh cited statistics that revealed 50 percent of SMEs went bankruptin the first five years and 90 percent in the next five years, stressing thatthe competition would be much fiercer in the digital transformation.

Binh said thatdigital transformation was accelerating the transition to a digital economywhich was enabling enterprises to develop platforms to promote their operationand business.

It was moreconvenient for big enterprises to digital transform because they had their ownecosystems while SMEs did not have much budget for this. 

Under thedigital transformation programme during the 2021-25 period, the Ministryof Planning and Investment wanted 100 percent of enterprises to receive training indigital transformation to enhance their awareness./.