In Ta Du village in Meo Vac Commune of Tuyen Quang Province, ethnic minority woman Sung Mi Sa smiles as she holds out her phone and points to a QR code beside her charcoal stove. “Even a corn cob can be paid for via QR code,” she says. Across the road, another ethnic minority woman, Thao Thi May, uses her smartphone to help visitors find directions through the mountains.
For these Hmong women, technology, once distant from daily life, is becoming routine. From mobile payments to digital maps, small changes in this highland community show that digital transformation and the digital economy are no longer abstract concepts, but are steadily reaching even the most remote corners of Vietnam.
Their stories reflect a broader national ambition. The country is striving for high and sustainable growth, targeting high-income status by 2045. As traditional growth drivers approach their limits, the digital economy is emerging as a new engine, creating opportunities that transcend geography and physical infrastructure.
QR code next to the charcoal stove
As Vietnam enters the Year of the Horse 2026, the national objective of achieving high-income status by 2045 has transitioned from an ambitious aspiration into a critical developmental mandate. This vision, championed by state leadership, now faces a pivotal juncture: the necessity of identifying and scaling new growth drivers that transcend traditional industrial models.
The path to 2045 hinges on the country’s ability to move beyond incremental gains and achieve a fundamental economic breakthrough. While the terminology of "digital transformation" and the "digital economy" often dominates high-level policy discourse, the most profound evidence of this shift is emerging within the grassroots economy.
Technology has transitioned from an external innovation to a fundamental element of daily life in Vietnam, yet the path to universal integration remains uneven. In the village of Ta Du, Giang Thi My notes that for many, a mobile phone remains an unrealized aspiration, a sentiment that highlights the persistent gap between the promise of the digital economy and the reality of rural access.
Current data from Meo Vac Commune underscores this disparity. While 4G coverage has reached 95 percent of the area and 80 percent of residents own mobile phones, only 20 percent of households have access to fixed-line internet.
The challenge is more pronounced when viewed across the broader Tuyen Quang Province. Despite regional progress, 273 villages continue to operate with limited or non-existent cellular signals. This digital divide emphasizes the Government's central task: ensuring that the infrastructure for a digital economy is not only advanced but inclusive, reaching the country's most vulnerable populations to foster equitable growth.
Beyond economic metrics, the integration of digital technology is fundamentally reshaping the socio-cultural fabric of Vietnam’s ethnic minority communities. Dr. Lo Giang Pao, an ethnologist and member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, observes that digital tools are now essential for basic civic participation, streamlining access to health insurance, citizen identification, and public services.
According to ethnologist Lo Giang Pao, the digital economy serves as a dual-purpose engine that it enhances social welfare while simultaneously creating new livelihood opportunities. In rural highlands, technology is being leveraged to promote community-based tourism and modernize the distribution of agricultural products.
However, Dr. Lo Giang Pao warns that without a rigorous focus on inclusivity, the digital divide threatens to evolve into a new form of structural inequality. The current landscape in villages like Ta Du serves as a microcosm of the national challenge: while the digital economy has demonstrated a powerful reach, it requires targeted policy depth and strategic investment.
To realize the vision of a prosperous Vietnam, the focus must remain on bridging the gap between infrastructure and accessibility, ensuring that technological advancement acts as an equalizer rather than a barrier to progress.
A new space for development
According to a report on the Southeast Asia Digital Economy 2025 published on November 25, 2025, Vietnam's digital economy is estimated to reach US$39 billion by the end of 2025. Vietnam will become the second fastest growing digital economy in Southeast Asia. The room for growth based on extensive expansion is shrinking, while the aspiration for high, rapid, and sustainable growth is growing. Thus, traditional drivers are approaching their limits. The digital economy, however, is opening up a new space for development, transcending geographical boundaries and tangible resources, creating new impetus for Vietnam to go further and faster.
According to Dr. Can Van Luc, the digital economy plays an increasingly important role in improving labor productivity, reducing transaction costs, expanding markets, and promoting innovation – key factors for maintaining long-term growth. However, digital transformation in Vietnam is still uneven and has not yet reached its targets. It is estimated that by 2025, the digital economy will only contribute about 18 percent of GDP (the target is 20 percent), indicating significant room for growth but also numerous challenges.
Some sectors, such as finance and banking, e-commerce, and logistics, have progressed significantly, but many manufacturing, agricultural, and micro-enterprise sectors still struggle with digital transformation. The digital divide between regions, business groups, and population groups risks widening without timely policies.
A survey by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) indicates that many businesses remain in the very early stages of digital transformation (69 percent of businesses are only at a basic application level; over 5 percent have not yet begun digital transformation). How can the digital economy and digital society truly become a new development space for Vietnam, rather than just a digitization of the old model? Much work needs to be done, but it requires a national digital market centered on businesses, shifting from supporting businesses in digital transformation to creating a digital market, generating demand for businesses, and building confidence in Vietnamese digital businesses.
The biggest fear is falling behind
The push toward digital transformation in Vietnam is shifting from a macro-policy mandate into a fundamental survival strategy for the private sector. This transition was recently highlighted during a high-level summit of corporate leaders and economic experts, where Lu Thanh Long, Chairman of the Board of MISA, characterized the "fear of falling behind" as the primary catalyst for innovation.
This strategic anxiety has fueled MISA’s evolution over three decades. What began as a provider of accounting software for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has expanded into a comprehensive digital ecosystem. By establishing Artificial Intelligence (AI) as its strategic pillar, MISA exemplifies how domestic firms are proactively pursuing higher added value in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.
The momentum was further echoed at the third National Forum on Digital Economy and Society Development on December 20, 2025. During the event, Pham Kim Hung, Founder and CEO of Base Enterprise, detailed his firm’s role in streamlining Vietnamese business operations. Base Enterprise’s digital management platform leverages AI to automate reporting, optimize organizational workflows, and provide data-driven support for executive decision-making.
The narratives of MISA and Base Enterprise underscore a broader trend that the digitalization of Vietnam’s economy is being driven by localized AI applications that turn operational necessity into long-term competitive advantages.
According to CEO Pham Kim Hung, technology is only truly meaningful when it helps businesses solve very specific problems in operations and management, not when it offers solutions that are detached from reality.
Associate Professor Tran Kim Chung, former Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management Research, said that to seize this opportunity, a new mindset, a new strategy, a new and deeper approach, and decisive action are needed. This involves creating a national digital economy structure instead of fragmented digitalization across sectors. The State should act as the chief architect, shaping the structure for market operation, creating a healthy competitive environment, and encouraging innovation.
Opportunities created by sound policies
As the digital economy permeates every sector of Vietnamese society, leading economists are calling for a more agile regulatory approach to balance rapid innovation with national stability. Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, a prominent economic expert, recently noted that while the digital landscape offers unprecedented opportunities, "every rosy picture comes with policy," suggesting that growth cannot be sustained without a robust institutional foundation.
The transition remains fraught with structural challenges. Dr. Vu Dinh Anh warned that digital transformation entails significant capital expenditures and inherent operational risks. He cautioned that an inconsistent rollout across different regions or industries could inadvertently create new economic imbalances, potentially widening the gap between the digital-ready and the underserved.
Furthermore, the accelerated evolution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Big Data has introduced complex pressures regarding cybersecurity and data privacy, labor displacement and social stratification.
Despite these uncertainties, experts agree that the velocity of technological change leaves no room for institutional delay. Waiting for a perfect legal framework before proceeding would risk national stagnation and the failure of Vietnam's long-term development aspirations.
This dual-track strategy highlights that digital transformation and innovation are not merely technical upgrades but the opening of a new development space. For these opportunities to materialize into a prosperous reality, Vietnam must maintain a high degree of policy flexibility to adapt to unforeseen business models and market shifts in the digital age.
