Vietnam Cybersecurity

Vietnam’s digital economy will exceed $43 billion by 2025 as the country pursues projects in e-government, internet of things, smart cities, financial technology, artificial intelligence. With this unprecedented growth and demand for digital services throughout the country, the public and private sector face an increase in cyber threats, and attacks, that are sophisticated and pose a true threat to private information. 

In an effort to improve the cybersecurity capabilities of the public sector, in 2019  the Government of Vietnam issued a decree stating that national and local government agencies and state-owned enterprises, must strengthen their cybersecurity capabilities by implementing appropriate cybersecurity solutions.  In particular the measure 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. 

Vietnam’s cybersecurity market is forecasted to reach $215 million in total revenue by 2023 and is projected to grow at more than 14.8% per year from 2020 to 2023. The vertical markets of governments, finance & banking, e-commerce, energy (especially oil & gas and electricity), e-commerce and enterprises offer significant potential for U.S. cybersecurity hardware and software solutions, including:

Government
• Web Application Firewall
• Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) Prevention and Control
• Malicious Code Analysis
• Endpoint and End-User Protection
• Network Access Control (NAC)
• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

E-commerce:
• Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)
• Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)
• Web Application Firewall
• Endpoint and End-user Protection

Finance, Banking and Insurance (FSI):
• Network security: DDoS, Web Application Firewall, Pentest, Anti-spam, and APT solutions
• Endpoint security: NAC, identity and access security
• Centralized security: SIEM and Privileged Identity Management (PIM)

Energy (Oil&Gas and Electricity):
• Next-Generation Firewall
• Malicious Code Analysis
• APT Prevention and Control
• Endpoint and End-user Protection

Enterprises:
• Firewall
• Pentest
• Data storage
• PIM
• Endpoint security

Challenges
Despite the fact that both the public and private sector in Vietnam have developed a greater awareness of the impact appropriate cybersecurity measures will have on their operations, their investment in implementing cybersecurity solutions is insufficient.  Despite the mandate outlined in Decree 14, the average cybersecurity investments have been below the mandated 10% of total IT expenditures.  To be successful in the market, U.S. companies must have patience, a long-term investment in the market, and be committed to educating potential customers on the benefits of implementing appropriate and necessary cybersecurity measures.  Doing this will help U.S. firms establish and develop long-term relationships with end users and partners. 

Market Entry
US companies interested in doing business in Vietnam’s cybersecurity market are advised to:
• Study and ascertain the market potential;
• Find the right local business partner(s) with suitable commercial and technical capabilities; and,
• Invest in developing a good relationship with local partners and end-user customers.

Contact:
Triet Huynh
Senior Commercial Specialist
U.S. Commercial Service Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Email: Triet.Huynh@trade.gov