Overview of the Conference to review the work in 2023 and deploy tasks in 2024 of the Ministry of Information and Communications.

In 2023, the total revenue of the information and communications industry is estimated to reach more than 3.7 million billion VND. According to the Ministry of Information and Communications, in 2023, with the motto of proactive adaptation and drastic action in accordance with the Government's management spirit of "Solidarity, discipline, flexibility, innovation, timeliness and efficiency" and implementing the theme of 2023 as "Year of Digital Data, creating and exploiting data to create new values", the Ministry will continue to strengthen discipline, order and effectiveness of state management, advise and propose appropriate and timely policy responses with a high sense of responsibility, daring to think, daring to do, daring to take responsibility, striving to achieve the highest goals, targets and tasks of socio-economic development of the entire information and communications industry. In 2023, the industry's total revenue is estimated at VND 3,744,214 billion, an increase of 1.49% compared to 2022. State budget contribution is estimated at VND 99,323 billion, an increase of 1.31% compared to 2022. The information and communications industry's contribution to GDP is estimated at VND 887,398 billion, an increase of 1.34% compared to 2022. The total number of employees in the industry in 2023 is estimated at about 1,767,766, an increase of 2.72% compared to 2022. In 2023, the national digital transformation with dual goals is: Developing Digital Government, Digital Economy, Digital Society; Vietnam's strong digital technology enterprises have just been formed to reach out to the world, spreading more and more deeply and widely nationwide, leaving no one behind in the digital transformation of the whole population. Postal activities continue to have a strong shift with the explosion of e-commerce, contributing to promoting the digital economy. In 2023, postal service revenue reached 58,900 billion VND, an increase of 9.3% compared to 2022. Vietnam moved up 1 rank according to the 2023 postal development index (from group 5 to group 6; group 10 is the highest group). For the telecommunications industry, total telecommunications service revenue is estimated at 139,260 billion VND, an increase of 0.41% over the same period in 2022 and reaching 99.5% of the 2023 plan. The digital technology industry has made strong progress. Revenue of the sector reached 142 billion USD with the proportion of Vietnamese value accounting for 28.7%. About 1,500 digital technology enterprises have revenue from foreign markets (an increase of nearly 4% compared to 2022). Developing the digital technology industry, bringing Make in Vietnam technology into all aspects of social life. Regarding the publishing sector, in 2023, the revenue scale of the audiobook market will reach over 102 billion VND, 2 times higher than in 2022 (52.3 billion); estimated to reach over 40 million audiobooks, an increase of 25% compared to 2022. The rate of publishers registering for electronic publishing activities is estimated at 40.3%, exceeding the plan by 20%; The number of e-books published in the year is estimated at 4,600, an increase of 31.4%, bringing the ratio of e-books/books to 15.3% of the total number of publications (exceeding the annual target of 12%). In particular, in 2023, the work of building and perfecting institutions will continue to be prioritized. The Law on Electronic Transactions and the Law on Telecommunications were passed by the 15th National Assembly with a high approval rate. After 14 years, the Information and Communications sector has had 2 laws promulgated within one year. In addition, Directive No. 07 of the Prime Minister on strengthening policy communication has fundamentally changed thinking and awareness, considering policy communication as first and foremost a task and a function of state administrative agencies, contributing to the formation of the apparatus and resources for this work. "Need a specific mechanism for digital transformation"

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang gave a speech at the Conference.

Speaking at the Conference, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang affirmed that Vietnam's IT industry is playing an important role, because digital transformation is both the goal and the driving force for the country's development. In particular, digital transformation is an important part of administrative reform. The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that taking shortcuts and taking the lead to close the gap with developed countries can only be done through science and technology, digital transformation, and innovation. The Deputy Prime Minister also said that one of the biggest barriers to digital transformation is institutions and policies. Accordingly, in addition to developing circulars and decrees, amending old decrees that are no longer reasonable, the Ministry of Information and Communications must quickly, urgently, and in accordance with standards. "Digital transformation is a very special field, so many specific mechanisms are needed. Without specific mechanisms, the problem cannot be solved," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized. Speaking at the Conference, Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said that the national digital transformation program has gone through 4 years. 2020 was the start; the 4th year - 2023 is the year of digital data and when the time comes, the conditions are sufficient for national digital transformation to be associated with the central task of socio-economic development of the country. 2024 will be the year the information and communications industry carries out key tasks according to the theme: "Universalizing digital infrastructure and innovating digital applications to develop the digital economy - a new driving force for economic growth and labor productivity". Minister Nguyen Manh Hung stated that the digital economy is an important driving force for economic growth, both helping to increase GDP and increase labor productivity. 2024 will be the year of universalizing digital infrastructure, universalizing the fundamental elements of digital transformation, developing digital applications to develop the digital economy, creating a new driving force for economic growth and labor productivity. Vietnam's digital infrastructure is super-large capacity, super-wide bandwidth, universal, sustainable, green, smart, open and secure. This infrastructure must be prioritized for investment, modernization and one step ahead to promote national digital transformation, develop the digital economy and digital society. The orientation for 2024 is to popularize digital infrastructure and innovate digital applications.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung speaks

According to Minister Nguyen Manh Hung, the information and communications industry will continue to promote the achievements in 2023, with the orientation that 2024 will be the year the information and communications industry will carry out key tasks under the theme of popularizing digital infrastructure and innovating digital applications. The goal is to develop the digital economy, creating new momentum for economic growth and labor productivity. "2024 will be the year the information and communications industry will carry out key tasks under the theme: "Popularizing digital infrastructure and innovating digital applications to develop the digital economy - a new driving force for economic growth and labor productivity", Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung oriented. "2024 will be the year of popularizing digital infrastructure, popularizing the fundamental elements of digital transformation, developing digital applications to develop the digital economy, creating new momentum for economic growth and labor productivity. In particular, the digital economy is an important driving force for economic growth, helping to increase GDP and labor productivity," the Minister of Information and Communications added. In addition, 2024 will be the year of strong application of AI and virtual assistants. The Minister said that with 120,000 documents and institutions in the legal system, it has exceeded the processing capacity of individuals. This number continues to increase every year. "Therefore, the only solution now is to let AI handle large numbers, humans handle small numbers," the Minister proposed a solution. "Small numbers require a lot of imagination, a lot of creativity, and that is the strength of humans. With large numbers, humans always feel uncomfortable doing, find it difficult to do, and tend to shirk. And now AI can do it instead, and do it much better," the Minister said.