(Source: Viet Nam Social Security)

The Foreign Ministry of Vietnam and the World Economic Forum (WEF) held a symposium themed “Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth: Navigating the Fourth Industrial Revolution” in Hanoi on November 17.

Addressing the event, Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue said that in the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0), the focus is on building a super interconnected world based on digital technology and facilitation of new development solutions. A super interconnected world will create opportunities for all individuals, families and organisations in all regions.

Vietnam has obtained considerable success in terms of telecoms infrastructure, he said, noting that there are more than 130 million mobile cellular subscriptions nationwide while the 4G network covers up to 99 percent of the country’s total districts, and nearly 60 million mobile subscriptions are connected to 3G or 4G networks. About 55 percent of Vietnam’s population regularly accesses the internet. These factors are a strong foundation for new business models based on digital connection to develop strongly, he said.

However, Industry 4.0 also poses challenges in terms of competitiveness and inclusive growth to Vietnam such as changes of business models or automation that could lead to massive lay-offs in labour intensive industries.

Hue affirmed that the Vietnamese Government pledges to hold regular dialogues and work with the businesses community and domestic and foreign experts to remove barriers, overhaul the legal corridor, and create necessary mechanisms and action programmes. It is also working to facilitate a startup ecosystem, especially for startups in science-technology, and enhance enterprises’ social responsibility, he added.

Justin Wood, head of the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Asia Pacific region, said Vietnam emerged from a low-income country to a middle-income one. It is now seeking to avoid the middle-income trap and become a high-income economy.

The impacts of Industry 4.0 will change the development of industrialisation and the competitiveness of labour cost, Wood added, with the market set to focus on labour quality instead of labour cost, which will change the way the economy develops in the future. Therefore, at the symposium, the WEF paid attention to competitiveness and inclusive growth to share successful experience of other countries to help with Vietnam’s development, he said.

International Cooperation Department