Stepping up measures to develop digital economy

The digital economy is an inevitable trend amid the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the rapid digital transformation taking place worldwide. Developing the digital economy will help localities, including Dong Nai, promote socio-economic development, enhance competitiveness, and accelerate digital transformation as well as advances in science, technology, and innovation. Dong Nai aims to raise the digital economy's share of GRDP to more than 30% by 2030.

Businesses experience digital financial products at the forum “Developing Smart – Eco Industrial Parks – a Driving Force for Investment Attraction and Green Economic Development in the Southeast Region”, held in late July 2026. Photo: Hai Quan

Increasing digital economy's share of GRDP

The digital economy comprises core digital economy sectors and digitalization across virtually all sectors of the economy, including industry, trade, finance, logistics, education, healthcare, and public services. The distinction between the core digital economy and digitalization across other sectors highlights two key drivers: the development of industries that directly produce digital products and the digital transformation of the economy as a whole.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phung The Dong, an economic expert at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), said the digital economy was shifting from a supporting sector into a decisive component of economic productivity, competitiveness, and resilience. For Dong Nai, this requirement is even more pressing as the locality is simultaneously undergoing three major transitions: operating under a new development model after becoming the country's seventh city; restructuring its development space following the administrative reorganization; and tapping new growth drivers associated with Long Thanh International Airport, industrial parks, logistics, and regional linkages in the Southeast region. This is a favorable time for Dong Nai to shift from scattered digitalization initiatives toward a targeted economic development program with clear objectives, markets, and measurable results.

To accelerate the development of the digital economy, Dong Nai needs to focus on key measures, including establishing governance mechanisms and measurement systems for the digital economy; developing digital and data infrastructure and shared platforms; and implementing digital transformation programs for industry and smart factories. The city should also develop the digital technology industry and innovation, build a digital logistics ecosystem, and strengthen support for small and medium-sized enterprises, household businesses, and cooperatives in their digital transformation.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phung The Dong, economic expert at the MoF.

At a scientific workshop on the current state of digital economy development in Dong Nai City held in mid-August 2026, Nguyen Thi Huyen of the National Accounts Department under the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the MoF's Statistics Department, said that according to the NSO's press release on the share of digital economy value added in GDP and GRDP for 2021-2025, the former Dong Nai province, now Dong Nai City, had recorded relatively stable growth in its digital economy, both in terms of its contribution to GRDP and its growth rate over the years. This reflects the gradual integration of digital transformation into production, business, and service activities across the city, particularly as Dong Nai is one of the country's major industrial hubs, with a high proportion of manufacturing and processing industries and foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises.

Specifically, during the 2021-2025 period, the share of digital economy value added in Dong Nai's GRDP increased from 6.61% in 2021 to 7.88% in 2025, up 1.27 percentage points after five years, equivalent to an increase of about 19.2% compared with the first year of the period.

However, experts said potential does not automatically translate into digital value. The level of technology adoption still varies significantly between FDI and domestic enterprises, as well as between industrial and urban areas and rural areas. Digital economy data remains fragmented, while small and medium-sized enterprises lack capital, skilled personnel, and the capacity to select appropriate solutions. Linkages among businesses, training institutions, and research organizations remain insufficiently strong. Infrastructure development also needs to shift from "having connectivity" to "high-quality, low-latency, and secure connectivity," particularly in industrial parks, logistics centers, and concentrated production areas.

According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Phung The Dong, analysis shows that several bottlenecks need to be addressed in the development of the digital economy, including the lack of a sufficiently stable city-level system for measuring the digital economy.

The digital economy's share of GRDP can easily be interpreted as a standalone statistic, even though the underlying data span multiple sectors and businesses. Digital transformation among businesses remains uneven, while data remains fragmented, and data standards and sharing mechanisms have yet to be standardized. At the same time, the city needs to pay greater attention to human resource development, with training programs more closely aligned with businesses' orders and the equipment they actually use. Dong Nai also needs to improve its ability to turn scientific and technological inputs into products, businesses, and productivity gains.

Setting out a roadmap and key measures

Many digital economy experts said that because the digital economy is broad, cross-sectoral, and closely linked to various economic activities, measuring its contribution to economic growth requires a consistent statistical methodology that is compatible with the System of National Accounts (SNA) and international practices.

Business representatives experience digital applications on the sidelines of a workshop on artificial intelligence applications in corporate management held in Dong Nai in August 2026. Photo: Hai Quan

Nguyen Thi Huyen said the digital economy's share of GRDP stood at only 7.88% in 2025, indicating considerable room for further development. In the coming period, Dong Nai needs to continue promoting digital transformation among small and medium-sized enterprises, while developing the digital technology industry, data infrastructure, smart logistics, and digital human resources to further increase the digital economy's contribution to GRDP growth, particularly as Long Thanh International Airport begins operations and the country's digital transformation gathers pace.

Dr. Phan Xuan Linh, Rector of the Dong Nai School of Politics, said that amid rapid digital transformation, the development of the digital economy plays an important role in the new growth model, helping to improve productivity, quality, and economic competitiveness. The digital economy is a core growth driver by optimizing resources, improving labor productivity, and transforming traditional economic models into modern production methods powered by data, the internet, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Speaking at the scientific workshop on the development of the digital economy in Dong Nai, Nguyen Minh Quang, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology, stressed that the city's agencies and units would continue to research and develop a scientific, consistent, and regularly updated system of indicators and methodology for measuring the digital economy. This should serve as a foundation for the city to monitor progress, assess effectiveness, and formulate policies.

The city will focus on supporting businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, in pursuing substantive digital transformation, while promoting the use of digital platforms, digital data, AI, e-commerce, e-invoices, digital payments, and modern management solutions. In particular, Dong Nai will step up digital transformation in sectors where it has competitive advantages, including processing and manufacturing, logistics, trade, high-tech agriculture, and services. At the same time, Dong Nai will focus on developing modern, integrated digital infrastructure and digital platforms capable of sharing data, as well as developing its digital workforce.

By H. Quan – Translated by M.Nguyet, Minho