Overview

According to a recent industry report, Vietnam’s ICT market is forecast to remain on a strong growth trajectory in 2023. The ICT market is expected to grow by 14% in 2023 to a value of VND 240 trillion Vietnam dong (equivalent to USD 10.2 billion) and by 2027 the IT market is expected to exceed VND 400 trillion Vietnam dong (equivalent to USD 17 billion) as both the public and private sectors increase adoption of ICT solutions. The Government of Vietnam has identified ICT as a major industry and socio-economic growth driver and is urging government agencies at all levels to apply advanced ICT solutions towards the goals of improving operational efficiencies and providing better governance services. In particular, the Government of Vietnam has approved the National Digital Transformation Program through 2025, with vision to 2030, which will further support the growth of the ICT market. In the meantime, the private sector, especially key industry stakeholders, including aviation, banking, energy, healthcare, broadcasting, telecommunications, and urban infrastructure management are increasingly employing advanced ICT solutions to enhance operational efficiencies and support sustainable growth.

Vietnam is expected to continue to import large quantities of ICT hardware, software, and services, as Vietnamese suppliers are still relatively new and may not be able to offer the same range of solutions and services as foreign suppliers.  This trend is expected to continue and offers good opportunities for U.S. suppliers.

Key players in the hardware market include suppliers from Taiwan, China, the U.S., and Japan. Major players in the software market include suppliers from the U.S., Germany, China, Russia, Israel, and Vietnam.

Leading Sub-sectors

Telecommunications

The telecommunications sector is dominated by state-owneded companies, with five mobile operators active in Vietnam: VNPT-Vinaphone, Mobifone, Viettel, Vietnammobile, and Gtel. There are also three mobile virtual network operators (MVNO), Dong Duong Telecom (iTel), Mobicast (Reddi) and Asim Telecom (Local). Three network operators, VNPT-Vinaphone, Viettel, and Mobifone, hold a combined market share of approximately 95%. According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications, there were 127.207 million mobile subscribers as of September 2022. By the end of 2032, it is expected that Vietnam will have approximately 129.2mn subscribers, with an average annual growth rate of just 0.5% over the 2022-2032 period. By 2032, 89.2% of connections will be 5G-capable. The Vietnam mobile market is already highly saturated, with penetration rate of around 128% and organic growth likely to be slow.

Revenue from traditional telecommunications services, namely voice and text message, which accounted for roughly 54% of the total revenue is expected to continue to decline due to the saturation of mobile phone subscribers, continued reduced service rates, and popularity of over-the-top calling and texting services.

Given recent trends, three major operators, Viettel, Vinaphone and Mobifone, have shifted their focus to providing digital infrastructure and services such as digital services, fiber optic infrastructure, digital payment, and cloud services. These carriers have also piloted 5G technology successfully in the cities of Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City and plan on commercializing 5G services in 2022. Telecommunications service firms are expected to invest up to USD 2.5 billion to deploy and commercialize 5G technology from 2020-2025.

Smart Cities

The smart city concept was introduced in Vietnam in 2007 when the Ministry of Construction conducted a study on urban infrastructure planning for the development of a smart city in Vietnam. 48 of the 63 centrally managed cities and provinces throughout Vietnam have been approved to develop a smart city in their localities, to date, as the country has seen a robust urbanization rate of more than 30% per year during the past ten years. According to the Vietnam Urban Development Association, the country has 819 cities as of 2019 and is forecast to have approximately 50% of its population living in urban areas by 2040. The economic growth in urban areas reached an average rate of 12% per year, 1.5 times higher than the national rate. Accelerated urbanization and correspondent economic growth are driving city governments in Vietnam to deploy smart technological solutions towards the goals of developing and managing their urban infrastructures efficiently and sustainably as well as providing digital government services to residents and businesses. To achieve these goals, several major cities in Vietnam, especially Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang plan to develop several Smart Cities projects.

Potential sources of funding for the implementation of these projects include the state budget, official development assistance, international loans (including World Bank and Asian Development Bank) and the private sector. As the Government of Vietnam continues to encourage and facilitate public-private partnerships in urban infrastructure projects, more funding will likely become available for the development of smart cities in major cities throughout Vietnam.

Cybersecurity

According to a recent report by Ken Research, Vietnam’s cybersecurity market is forecasted to reach USD 215 million in total revenue by 2023 and is projected to grow at approximately 15% per year in 2022 and 2023. The World Bank estimates that Vietnam’s digital economy will exceed USD 43 billion by 2025 as the country pursues projects in e-government, internet of things, smart cities, financial technology, artificial intelligence, etc. However, with this unprecedented growth and demand for digital services throughout the country, the public and private sectors face an increase in cyber threats.

In effort to improve the cybersecurity capabilities of the public sector, in June 2019 the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 14 stating that government agencies at both the national and local levels (municipal and provincial levels), as well as state-owned enterprises, are to strengthen their cybersecurity capabilities by implementing appropriate cybersecurity solutions. Decree 14 mandated that from 2020-2025 the public sector must spend at least 10%  of their organization’s total annual information technology expenditure on cybersecurity solutions and initiatives. The Government of Vietnam considers cybersecurity a critical part in realizing the country’s strategic goals for Digital Transformation. On August 10, 2022, the Prime Minister signed Decision 964/QĐ-TTg approving the Strategy for National Cyber Safety, Security, Active Responses to Challenges from Cyberspace until 2025 and Vision to 2030. On 15 August 2022, the Vietnamese Government issued Decree 53/2022/ND-CP detailing several articles of the 2018 Cybersecurity Law, and which sets out the requirements for such local data storage and local presence requirements.

Opportunities

Due to their state-of-the-art technology, lifecycle cost efficiency, and customer support services, U.S. suppliers have significant opportunities to sell their products to several market segments in Vietnam. The segments of vertical industry markets, including Healthcare, Environment, Electricity, Transport, Education, all present good opportunities. These sub-sectors will offer potential for U.S. suppliers of hardware and software, including peripheral devices, servers, network equipment, cybersecurity equipment and software, and applications.

The U.S. Commercial Service along with well-known U.S. information and communication technology (ICT) companies, have organized several Smart Cities-focused events in Vietnam. These companies are introducing smart city technologies and solutions to Vietnamese authorities and municipalities while at the same time educating them on the benefits of applying smart technology to planning and managing infrastructure and providing better public services.

Key Projects Opportunities

1. Smart Cites project in Dong Anh District, Hanoi, USD 4.2 billion, 2019-2028 
2. HCMC Intelligent Transportation System, USD 250 million, 2020-2025 
3. HCMC Intelligent Operations Center, USD 43 million, 2021-2025  
4. HCMC Unified Emergency Communications Center Project, USD 43 million, 2020-2025 
5. Da Nang Intelligent Transportation System Project, USD 23million, 2020-2025 
6. Da Nang Intelligent Operations Center, USD 7.5million, 2020-2025. 
7. Ho Chi Minh City Security Operating Center Project, USD 10 million, 2021-2025

Resources

• Ministry of Information and Communications
• Hanoi Department of Information and Communications
• Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications
• Da Nang Department of Information and Communications

Further information can be obtained from the U.S. Commercial Service in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City via the following addresses:

• Triet Huynh, Senior Commercial Specialist

U.S. Commercial Service – U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City

E-mail: Triet.Huynh@trade.gov 

• Duong Pham, Senior Commercial Specialist

U.S. Commercial Service – U.S. Embassy in Hanoi

E-mail: duong.pham@trade.gov