Industry 4.0 offers great development opportunities for Vietnam: Deputy PM Hue

Each industrial revolution (IR) in the world’s history has created opportunities for a number of countries and Vietnam's development opportunities will be in the fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue has said.

Illustrative Image (Photo: Thai Thien).

The senior government official was speaking at a symposium on competitiveness and inclusive growth in the context of Industry 4.0, hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Economic Forum in Hanoi on November 17, gathering numerous domestic and foreign economists, leaders of enterprises, and representatives from financial investment funds.

Hue stated that the invention of the steam engine in 1784 helped the UK and Europe to emerge as the great powers of the first IR; the invention of electrical motor (1870) extended the influence of powers such as the US, Germany, and then Japan in the second IR; and over a short period of time, the introduction of semiconductors, electronics, computers, and the Internet in the third IR, helped the Republic of Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Singapore to grow from difficult countries to officially join the group of the most developed economies.

Currently, the 4th IR is driving the advent of a digitally connected world and rapidly changing the life and behaviours of each citizen, creating favourable conditions for increasing the capacity and formation of new business models and ways of doing business that low-income people can directly benefit from.

"The reality is that developing countries can completely catch up and overtake developed ones in Industry 4.0," the deputy PM said, referring to the fact that the vast majority of people in Europe and North America do not yet have a habit of using mobile payments; while 90% of the adult population in Kenya and more than 40% of those in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, or Namibia regularly use this convenient payment method.

Uber, the company often referred to as a typical example of Industry 4.0, had to "submit" the Chinese market for Didi Chuxing - a local competitor, and has been seriously challenged by Grab in Vietnam and many Southeast Asian countries.

Alibaba e-commerce company helps millions of small and medium enterprises, and household businesses in China to participate in the digital economy, increasing the country's competitiveness on a global scale. India is not out of the new development with a large number of successful businesses in the digital economy.

Therefore, Deputy PM Hue affirmed that "Thanks to Industry 4.0, for the first time in human history, every citizen can start a business. This is a great opportunity for inclusive growth."

The Government continues to invest in and upgrade the digital connection infrastructure, including “hard” infrastructure, to help individuals, devices, and sensors remain connected at all times regardless of environment, with consistent high speeds over real time, as well as “soft” infrastructure, including issues related to standards and legal regulations for digital transactions, digital signatures, electronic payments, financial technology (Fintech) and intellectual property.

At the same time, the government will promote digitisation in the area of public administration, which is considered a precondition for achieving a unified vision of e-government with its e-citizens in a digitally connected economy.

(Source: NDO)