The study focuses on clarifying some basic theories about digital transformation; analyzing the current situation of Vietnam’s export of goods; clarify the situation of digital transformation of export enterprises and the Government in order to promote the export of goods; thereby proposing a number of solutions to promote the export of Vietnamese goods in the coming time on the basis of promoting digital transformation of exporters and the... Đề tài Hoàn thiện công tác quản trị nhân sự tại Công ty TNHH Mộc Khải Tuyên được nghiên cứu nhằm giúp công ty TNHH Mộc Khải Tuyên làm rõ được thực trạng công tác quản trị nhân sự trong công ty như thế nào từ đó đề ra các giải pháp giúp công ty hoàn thiện công tác quản trị nhân sự tốt hơn trong thời gian tới.
Trang 1DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION TO PROMOTE VIETNAM’S
EXPORT OF GOODS
PhD Ngo Ngan Ha Thuongmai University Email: hann.vcu@gmail.com
Abstract: Export of goods play an important role in the country’s
socio-economic development Participating in the negotiation and signing of
new-generation free trade agreements as well as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic
taking place around the world have brought opportunities and challenges to
Vietnam’s goods export activities One of the solutions to take advantage of
opportunities as well as overcome challenges is to implement digital transformation
in export activities The study focuses on clarifying some basic theories about
digital transformation; analyzing the current situation of Vietnam’s export of
goods; clarify the situation of digital transformation of export enterprises and the
Government in order to promote the export of goods; thereby proposing a number
of solutions to promote the export of Vietnamese goods in the coming time on the
basis of promoting digital transformation of exporters and the Government.
Keywords: Keywords: digital transformation, export, vietnam
CHUYỂN ĐỔI SỐ NHẰM THÚC ĐẨY XUẤT KHẨU HÀNG HÓA
CỦA VIỆT NAM
Tóm tắt: Xuất khẩu hàng hóa có vai trò quan trọng trong phát triển kinh tế
- xã hội của đất nước Việc tham gia đàm phán, ký kết các hiệp định thương mại
tự do thế hệ mới cũng như ảnh hưởng của đại dịch Covid - 19 diễn ra trên toàn
thế giới đã mang đến những cơ hội và thách thức hoạt động xuất khẩu hàng hóa
của Việt Nam Một trong những giải pháp nhằm tận dụng cơ hội cũng như khắc
phục những thách thức đó là thực hiện chuyển đổi số trong hoạt động xuất khẩu
hàng hóa Bài nghiên cứu tập trung làm rõ một số lý luận cơ bản về chuyển đổi
số; phân tích thực trạng xuất khẩu hàng hóa của Việt Nam trong giời gian vừa
qua; làm rõ tình hình chuyển đổi số của các doanh nghiệp xuất khẩu và Chính
phủ nhằm đẩy mạnh xuất khẩu hàng hóa; từ đó đề xuất một số giải pháp thúc đẩy
xuất khẩu hàng hóa của Việt Nam trong thời gian tới trên cơ sở đẩy mạnh chuyển
đổi số của doanh nghiệp xuất khẩu và Chính phủ.
Từ khóa: chuyển đổi số, xuất khẩu, Việt Nam
Trang 21 Introduction
As of December 2022, Vietnam has negotiated, signed and implemented 17 Free Trade
Agreements (FTAs), especially new generation FTAs including: Comprehensive Partnership
Agreement and Trans-Pacific Partnership Duong (CPTPP), FTA between Vietnam - EU
(EVFTA), FTA between Vietnam and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland (UKVFTA); and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) It is
these FTAs that have created a solid basis for strengthening and promoting bilateral trade
and investment exchanges, as well as strengthening international economic integration in the
region and the world
However, the COVID-19 epidemic spreading on a global scale has led to consequences
for economic activities such as a narrowing of the consumption market, the scarcity of raw
materials due to the supply chain of raw materials entry is interrupted; financial problems
due to production interruptions Especially, major economies in the world such as China, EU,
and the United States are the places with the largest number of cases and must implement
prolonged social distancing measures while these are also big trading partners in Vietnam
In that context, the digital transformation is an inevitable and objective trend of countries
around the world, including Vietnam The digital transformation will help Vietnamese
exporters seek a more flexible business model, both reducing costs and optimizing resources
to overcome difficulties At the same time, the digital transformation has opened up access to
a large market, namely the EU and other countries, where the information technology system
is developed As for taking advantage of the opportunities brought by new-generation FTAs,
the role of digital transformation is to provide Vietnamese exporters with a tool to effectively
access the world market than in previous forms
However, the digital transformation is still very new for the vast majority of exporters
Currently, very few businesses have undergone successful digital transformation The
adoption of digital technology in Vietnamese exporters is currently at an average level
Barriers in finance, technology and human resources have created fundamental challenges
for Vietnamese export enterprises Through the collection and processing of secondary data,
the study focuses on clarifying some basic theories about digital transformation, analyzing
the current situation of Vietnam’s exports; analyzing the difficulties and challenges facing
export enterprises in digital transformation as well as the Government’s efforts in digital
transformation to promote exports From there, proposing solutions to promote the export of
Vietnamese goods through digital transformation
2 Literature review and methods
The impact of digitization on foreign trade has been studied by many scholars at
home and abroad Most of the early scholars have explored the impact of the Internet on the
country’s overall trade from a macro level, with digitalization playing a positive role in the
area of trade in goods, trade in services, which can facilitate international trade by reducing
transaction costs, increasing efficiency and alleviating information asymmetry, and also by
reducing language distance to facilitate differentiated exports (Visser, 2019)
With the continuous improvement of heterogeneous trade theory, scholars have gradually
expanded the study of the relationship between digitization and export to the enterprise
level, using enterprise microdata to argue that the research results show that the Internet and
digitization significantly promote enterprise exports Chaney (2011) by building a dynamic
model of the composition of importers and exporters, the use of the Internet by enterprises
Trang 3improves the dynamics of export trade The impact of digital transformation of enterprises
on the technical complexity of exports has significant nonlinear characteristics (Lin & Li,
2021) While digital transformation has a direct positive impact on export performance, firm
innovation and market competition have a positive moderating role in it, while institutional
environment has a negative moderating role (Yi & Wang, 2021) In addition, effective
information disclosure has a positive contribution to corporate exports
Hamidreza Alipour Shirsavar (2016) examined the impact of electronic customs on
export of goods and services The results indicate that identifying new opportunities is
effective to reduce transaction costs on export so that the reducing of transaction costs will be
caused to creating a competitive advantage and will be developed with increasing in exports
competitive advantage of goods and services Also, the results showed that the reduction of
transaction costs impacts on the export development
Agree with Hamidreza Alipour Shirsavar (2016), Netta Gichuki (2021) also pointed
out that the automation and digitalization of customs processes and procedures and other
cross border trade agencies processes and procedures reduces the amount of time goods
spend at borders This
reduces costs for stakeholders along the clearance supply chain and in turn allows
firms efficiency gains through reduced production costs thus increasing output for export
and domestic markets
Based on the combing of related studies, this paper argues that enterprise digital
transformation and government digital transformation has a positive impact on exports In
Vietnam, there have also been some studies on the positive relationship between digital
transformation and export of goods However, most of the studies mainly focus on clarifying
the digital transformation of export enterprises There are few complete and comprehensive
studies on digital transformation of the government to promote Vietnam’s goods exports
The study identifies two new contributions: (i) Regarding space: Case study in Vietnam; (ii)
Regarding content areas: Simultaneous study of both the digital transformation of exporters
and the digital transformation of the government to promote exports The research tried to
clarify the current situation of Vietnam’s exports of goods in recent years, assess the situation
of digital transformation of enterprise and the government to promote exports From there,
propose solutions to promote the export of Vietnamese goods through digital transformation
To clarify the above research objectives, the research mainly using secondary data
sources, taken from the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, reports of the Ministry of Industry
and Trade, the General Department of Customs Research methodology used in the article
are statistical methods, synthesis of theory and practice, inferential analysis, comparison,
contrast, combined with expert opinion method to clarify the reality of Vietnam’s export of
goods as well as the situation of digital transformation in enterprises and the government to
promote the export of goods
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Overview of digital transformation
There is no common agreed definitions of digital sector, products, or transactions, let
alone the digital economy (IMF, 2018)
Ebert and Duarte (2018) argue that the digital transformation is the process of applying
breakthrough technologies to increase productivity, create value and increase social welfare
Trang 4According to Gartner (2019), the digital transformation is the application of technology to
change business models, create more opportunities and new values, help businesses achieve
better sales and increase growth Vial and Gregory (2019) define the digital transformation
as “a process that aims to improve an entity by triggering significant changes to its properties
through combinations of information, computing, communication, and connectivity
technologies”
From the above analysis, it can be understood that, in the most general way, the digital
transformation is the use of digital technology or the application of digital technology on
the basis of digital data or digitized data to change the research, production and business
models in order to create many new opportunities and values, improve and enhance
operational efficiency and competitiveness of organizations/enterprises According to
Siebel (2019), digital transformation is driven by technological advances and breakthrough
digital technologies are: artificial intelligence (AI); internet of things (IoT); big data; cloud
computing; blockchain
According to FPT Digital (2022), the digital transformation will include 3 main stages:
Digitization; Digitalization; Digital Transformation
Stage 1: Digitization: Is the conversion of data from physical form (analog) to digital
form (digital)
Phase 2: Digitalization: Is the application of technology to automate existing processes,
reducing operating costs and increasing efficiency
Phase 3: Digital Transformation: A fundamental change in technology and psychology,
creating a breakthrough and transforming processes both internally and externally business
and society At this level, the business can change its business model
The digital transformation is increasingly being developed and popularized, it is applied
in many different fields In Vietnam, there are 02 most used areas: Digital transformation in
businesses and digital transformation of the government
The important role of digital transformation in promoting exports is reflected in several
key aspects as follows:
Firstly, the role of digital transformation in trade promotion activities, connection and
cooperation, and access to diverse customers In the past, the trade promotion was mainly
operated in the traditional form It is bringing goods to other countries to introduce at fairs or
product showrooms Although the closing rate is high, the logistics costs for these activities
are not small When trade promotion moves to online form and is carried out in a variety of
digital technology platforms, this form has eliminated the geographical distance, accessibility
and quantity as well as limited costs for businesses
Second, the digital transformation and the opportunity to create new distribution
channels, both reducing costs and optimizing resources Digital transformation helps develop
export activities through social networks as well as e-commerce In particular, cross-border
e-commerce (in both B2B as well as B2C), as an extension, effectively support the traditonal
distribution channel in finding output for products to potential markets by connecting directly
with customers around the world and directly promoting business brands in import export
markets
Third, the digital transformation helps to collect and process product data, thereby
this help to better meet the needs of goods in foreign markets The digital technology can
Trang 5provide businesses with insights into historical customer data including product interactions,
preferences and requirements (such as produce traceability) That helps businesses meet
the quality of goods, along with the reputation of the business in meeting customers for
sustainable development
3.2 Digital transformation in Vietnam’s goods exports
3.2.1 Overview of Vietnam’s export of goods in recent times
● Export turnover
Unit: billion USD
Figure 1: Vietnam’s export turnover in the period of 2013 - 2021 and
the first 9 months of 2022
Source: General Department of Vietnam Customs (2022)
In terms of growth rate, export growth in the period 2013-2021 averaged 12.5%/year In
the period of 2013-2015, export growth decreased more than in the previous period because
industrial production faced difficulties due to the impact of the financial crisis and public debt
crisis in Europe At this time, the world economy has not fully recovered Accordingly, export
demand decreased, so the increase was low compared to previous years In the period
2016-2017, export growth increased again because of efforts in market opening, improvements in
goods consumption promotion and support for export enterprises In 2019 and 2020, due to
the great influence of the Covid-19 pandemic, Vietnam’s export growth decreased compared
to previous years Specifically, export growth in 2019 and 2020 reached 8.4% and 6.9%,
respectively However, by 2021, Vietnam’s export growth will begin to recover, reaching
282.52 billion USD, up 17.2%
● Export structure of goods
In recent years, Vietnam’s commodity exports have seen a marked change in quality,
reflected in the restructuring of export goods The structure of export goods has a positive shift
among commodity groups and is directed towards the core of industrialization Specifically,
in 2021, industrial goods will account for over 80%; followed by the group of agricultural
products and aquatic products accounted for over 10% and the group of fuels and minerals
accounted for just over 1% of total export turnover
Trang 6Figure 2 Export structure of goods in 2021
Source: General Department of Vietnam Customs (2022)
In 2021, there are 35 items with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, an increase
of 1 item compared to 2020 and accounting for 93.8% of total export turnover (there are
8 items with export turnover of over 10 billion USD, an increase of 2 items compared to
2020) Some key export products had outstanding growth, such as iron and steel of all kinds,
up 124.3%; fibers, textile yarns of all kinds increased by 50.2%; machinery, equipment,
tools and spare parts increased by 41%, In the first 9 months of 2022, there are 32 items
with export turnover of over 1 billion USD, accounting for 92.8% of total export turnover
(there are 6 export items of over 10 billion USD, accounting for 63.9%) In addition, items
with export value of over 20 billion USD in the first 9 months of 2022 include: Phones
and components (45.4 billion USD); electronics, computers and components (41.51 billion
USD); other machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts (34.06 billion USD) and textiles
and garment (29.13 billion USD)
Table 1 Some export products over 10 billion USD in 9 months of 2022
Items 9 months of 2022
(million USD)
Growth/decrease rate in
9 months in 2022 compared to the same period in 2021 (%)
Electronics, computers and components 41.511 13.3
Other machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts 34.063 29.8
Source: General Department of Vietnam Customs (2022)
Trang 7● Export markets of goods
The export market has increased, not only in the traditional markets but also in exploiting
new and potential markets and especially taking advantage of the new generation FTAs
Vietnam’s exports have reached most markets in the world, many products have gradually
gained a firm foothold and improved their competitiveness in many markets with high quality
requirements such as the EU, Japan, the US, Australia, etc Export turnover to all market
areas achieved positive growth, increasing sharply in markets with FTAs with Vietnam such
as: China increased by 15%, the US increased by 24,2%; EU by 14%; ASEAN increased by
25.8%, Korea by 15.8%, India by 21%, New Zealand by 42.5%, Australia by 3.1%
In particular, export turnover to markets that are members of CPTPP achieved a good
increase That shows the effectiveness of commitments from this Agreement to promote
exports and diversify export markets Specifically, exports to Canada reached 5.2 billion
USD, up 19.5%; exports to Mexico reached 4.6 billion USD, up 46.1%, etc
Exports to the EU market reached about 40.07 billion USD, an increase of about 14%
over the same period in 2020 Many of Vietnam’s export products have had positive changes
in the EU market after the EVFTA Agreement was approved enforcement, for example
seafood, shrimp, rice, etc
3.2.3 Situation of implementing digital transformation to boost Vietnam’s exports in
recent years
a Exporters’s digital transformation
Many exporters have been proactive in digitizing product data and using online
platforms to conduct online exports According to data from September 1, 2021 to August
31, 2022, Vietnamese sales partners have recorded an impressive growth on Amazon: Nearly
10 million Made-in-Vietnam products were sold to customers Cross-border e-commerce
with Amazon opens an economic engine with strong and clear potential for Vietnamese
businesses Top 5 best-selling categories of Vietnamese businesses on Amazon include:
Kitchenware, Household Appliances, Garment, Health and Personal Care Products,
Household Utilities The international markets for Vietnamese sellers are quite diverse, from
North America (including the US, Canada, Mexico), Europe (8 countries: UK, France, Italy,
Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands) , Poland, Sweden) and some other countries such as
Australia, Japan, Singapore, India, Saudi Arabia
At the same time, many businesses have applied software solutions, used digital
platforms in accounting and financial management, sales, online marketing, distribution
channel management, business administration or create new products and services
However, many businesses are still facing difficulties and barriers to conduct digital
transformation such as concerns about investment costs; difficulties in the lack of human
resources to apply digital technology; change of the habits of enterprises and employees,
etc Especially, when participating in online export on cross-border e-commerce platforms,
they also face difficulties and challenges The process of registering to become a partner
of these platforms is not easy and include many verification steps Goods must meet the
standards of the market and go through the trademark registration process Specifically, for
the Amazon platform, products must ensure to meet strict requirements on origin and product
quality criteria, international certification of food safety and hygiene; Product packaging and
packaging must also follow standards from Amazon Once on the floor, businesses still have
to continue to have appropriate marketing, advertising and goods management strategies
Trang 8b Government’s digital transformation and Government’s support in exporter’s
digital transformation to promote export of goods
In recent times, the Party and State have issued guiding documents as well as
implemented many programs to support digital transformation for businesses to promote
export of goods Specifically:
Firstly, building a legal framework for digital transformation
The Politburo issued Resolution No 52-NQ/TW, dated September 27, 2019 on a
number of guidelines and policies to actively participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,
which emphasized urgent requirements to accelerate the digital transformation process In
particular, in the documents of the 13th National Party Congress, concepts such as digital
transformation, digital economy, and digital society were also mentioned for the first time
On June 3, 2020, the Prime Minister issued Decision No 749/QD-TTg approving the
“National Digital Transformation Program to 2025, with a vision to 2030” with the goal that
Vietnam is in the group of 50 leading country in e-Government (EGDI) The promulgation
of this Program marks Vietnam as one of the first countries in the world to issue a national
digital transformation program, making Vietnam a country with digital transformation
awareness in parallel with advanced countries in the world
Currently, many ministries and localities have been implementing programs to support
businesses in digital transformation For example, in January 2021, the Ministry of Planning
and Investment approved the Program to support businesses in digital transformation for
the period 2021-2025 The Ministry of Information and Communications has approved the
Scheme to determine the Index to assess the level of enterprise digital transformation and
support to promote digital transformation The Hanoi People’s Committee has issued the
plan “Supporting digital transformation for small and medium-sized enterprises in the city
for the period 2021-2025”, which clearly states that it will support digital transformation for
90,000 small businesses and newly established, etc
In addition, Vietnam also has legal documents to regulate and guide for each specific
field related to digital transformation
(i) The legal framework for e-government development is reflected in Resolution
36-NQ/TW issued by the Politburo in 2014; Decision 714/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister in
2015; Resolution 17/NQ-CP 2019
(ii) The legal framework for e-commerce development includes Law on Electronic
Transactions, Commercial Law, Civil Code, Law on Intellectual Property, Law on Information
Technology, Decree 52/2013/ND-CP on commerce e-commerce, Circular 47/2014/TT-BCT
on management of e-commerce websites, also has the Law on Tax Administration 2019
(iii) The legal framework for non-cash payments is Decree 101/2012/ND-CP and
Directive 22/CT-TTg (issued in May 2020) on promoting the implementation of solutions to
develop non-cash payments use cash in Vietnam
(iv) The legal framework for sharing economy activities has Decree 10/2020/ND-CP
stipulating conditions for transport business by car, replacing Decree 86/2014/ND-CP to
pave the way for the Traffic modernization and operation of technology car companies such
as Grab officially came into operation after the pilot period
Trang 9(v) There is also a legal framework for artificial intelligence (AI) development (Directive
16/CT-TTg May 2017 of the Prime Minister); legal framework for smart city development
(Decision 950/QD-TTg dated August 1, 2018 approving the Project on sustainable smart
city development in Vietnam for the period 2018-2025 and orientation to 2030); The legal
framework on information safety and network security is governed by two laws (Law on
Cyberinformation Security 2015 and Law on Cybersecurity 2018)
However, the legal regulations for Vietnam’s digital transformation have so far been
assessed as incomplete The overall national strategy on digital economy and digital society
development has not yet been issued There is no legal corridor for piloting the application of
new business and service models The system of promulgated legal documents is inconsistent,
overlapping, even contradictory, not suitable for the requirements of digital transformation
and development of the digital economy There is a lack of regulations on data transactions,
database protection, personal data, and privacy information, as well as creating trust in
the digital space; lack of regulations on personal rights and ethics when applying artificial
intelligence; regulations on digital identity, identification and electronic authentication for
people are still slow to be promulgated
Second, building a national digital infrastructure
Although the National Digital Transformation Program started in 2020, due to the
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is not until 2022 that it is really considered a boom
time to build and develop digital infrastructure In the first six months of 2022, the fixed
broadband network access speed reached 71.79 Mbps (up 32.7% over the same period in
2021); mobile broadband network access speed reached 35.29 Mbps (up 4.7% over the same
period in 2021) Mobile telecommunications enterprises have deployed to cover 477 out of
832 villages and hamlets and handed over 457,249 computers to localities in the program
“Waves and computers for children”
Besides the advantages of digital infrastructure development, there are still many
shortcomings and limitations that need to be overcome The speed of fixed and mobile
broadband networks in Vietnam is still at the average level of the world and the region,
and has not yet created a breakthrough in infrastructure for national digital transformation
According to the statistical assessment of Ookla Speedtest, by September 1, 2022, Vietnam’s
fixed network speed ranked 45th out of 182 countries and mobile network speed ranked
47th out of 140 countries The removal of the area without telecommunications waves and
providing computers in the program “Waves and computers for children” has not been
completed Platforms and technologies that are key to global development, although deployed
in Vietnam, are still weak and have not created a bright spot for digital infrastructure In fact,
with two key goals in 2022 of the National Committee on Digital Transformation that have
not been completed, that is, 85% of the population has a smartphone and the percentage of
households with cable internet access Broadband optical reaches 75%
Third, improving the efficiency of online public services to boost the export of goods.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has implemented online public services in the field
of import and export at levels 3 and 4 on the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s online public
service portal In particular, the issuance of C/O via the internet has helped enterprises’
goods to be cleared quickly, reducing time and costs In particular, the issuance of C/O
via the internet also helps to make the origin of export transparent origin, improving the
competitiveness of the enterprise’s products
Trang 10In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has connected 11 online public services
with the National Single Window (NSW), including: Issuing licenses for import and export
of industrial explosives; granting import permits for ozone-depleting substances; granting
automatic import license of large displacement motorcycles; issue certificate of origin form
D; granting import and export licenses of rough diamonds; chemical notification; procedures
for licensing import and export of industrial explosives; procedures for licensing import and
export of precursors used in the industrial sector; procedures for importing tobacco for
non-commercial purposes; procedures for applying for a written approval to participate in the pilot
self-certification of origin in ASEAN; procedures for notifying import quotas for tobacco
ingredients and cigarette paper Up to now, 100% of enterprise records can be declared on
the electronic system This saves time and costs In particular, fast customs clearance and
quick delivery of goods to the warehouse are a favorable premise for businesses to meet the
delivery schedule for customers This is a huge benefit that customs modernization brings
Fourth, supporting exporters to promote trade in the digital environment to make the
most of export opportunities.
In order to innovate trade promotion to adapt to the industrial revolution 4.0 and
support businesses to take advantage of opportunities from this revolution, in 2020, the
Trade Promotion Department has implemented the construction 05 applications, software
including:
(i) Customer management (CRM) shared database system: This is a system that
connects trade promotion support units including Vietnamese counselors in the market, trade
promotion organizations domestic and foreign, import and export enterprises Up to now, the
system has updated information of nearly 13,000 businesses, information about Departments
of Industry and Trade, Trade Promotion Centers in 63 provinces and cities and industry
associations
(ii) Trade Promotion Ecosystem (VECOBIZ): is an application platform that integrates
trade promotion services such as consulting/training, trade promotion, trade fairs, exhibitions,
etc
(iii) Trade promotion traceability portal (www.itrace247.com)
(iv) Portal guiding import and export of goods (https://vietnam.tradeportal.org);
(vi) Online trade promotion training platform(E-learning)
At the same time, in July 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Trade launched the ECVN
Vietnam export support platform at: www.ecvn.com to help businesses easily find trading
opportunities in the online environment line
In March 2021, the Vietnam Institute of Business Administration and Digital Economy
(VIDEM) together with the Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy - Ministry of
Industry and Trade (IDEA) and Kim Nam Group launched a cooperation program to support
businesses exploit the Vietnam - European Union Free Trade Agreement with an e-commerce
platform The Vietnam-EU business e-commerce platform (VEFTA) is a key national-scale
project implemented to realize a “large-scale highway” connecting Vietnamese businesses
with international trading partners, especially partners from Europe (EU) on e-commerce
platform