VN needs policies to boost digital economy: experts Viet Nam needs to form policies that will boost the digital economy, a move that will generate added value and help sustainable development, experts said at a conference on Wednesday in Ha Noi.    Rapid e-commerce development is favourable for the digital economy.  Dao Huy Giam, General Secretary of the Viet Nam Private Sector Forum (VPSF), said that more than ever, it’s time for Viet Nam to pay attention to digital economy. Giam cited statistics showing that 1.7 per cent of the population are involved in the digital economy and contribute 5 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP). Each labour worked in the digital economy creates added value three times higher than the national average. “The digital economy stimulates high added value and leads to breakthroughs in capacity for sustainable development,” Giam stressed. According to Nguyen Trung Chinh, head of the VPSF’s working group on digital economy, with US$900 million revenue from e-commerce in 2016 and 60 million smartphone users, Viet Nam had significant room to boost the digital economy. Still, the biggest challenge is that Viet Nam had not had favourable policies to encourage new business models and digital technology-enabled companies, Chinh said. He said that to develop digital economy, the Government should hasten efforts in limiting the use of cash, promoting e-commerce and e-contracts and creating payment infrastructure for electronic transactions. In addition, incentives should be given to the software industry and hi-tech zones. Chinh said that in digital economy, firms needed fair playing ground to develop, adding that there are still differences in treatment compared to different economic sectors. According to Bui Quang Ngoc, deputy chairman of technology FPT Group, “It is critical to create a fair playing ground for different economic sector, especially in accessing State-funded IT projects.” Experts added that focus should be paid to develop IT human resource. According to Pham Van Hai from the Ha Noi University of Technology, the IT sector faces a severe human resource shortage. A report by job finding website VietnamWorks in 2015 said that Viet Nam needed 1.2 million IT workers by 2020. However, with the current growth rate of 8 per cent per year, Viet Nam will faced with a shortage of 500,000 workers. VPSF statistics show that the global digital economy was worth $3 trillion in 2016 with an anticipated annual growth rate of 9 per cent by 2020. ASEAN’s digital economy is worth $150 billion.  VNS