Boosting Vietnam-Estonia IT Cooperation

This statement was made by President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Pham Tan Cong in a meeting with Mr. Hannes Hanso, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to Vietnam, and a delegation of Estonian ICT businesses on their working visit in Vietnam.

Ambassador Hannes Hanso said that Estonia is one of the world’s digital leaders, highlighting that ICT plays an important role in the country’s economy with more than 10,000 businesses. Estonia currently uses 99% of effective electronic public services in all fields, has platforms for sharing information, connecting industries and fields together and empowering connectivity. People can use public services around the clock and no paperwork has been used in the past 15 years, so a lot of resources have been spared. As a result, Estonia has saved 2% of GDP thanks to digital transformation.

Estonia's digitalization journey has been focused on by the Government since 1995 when it was still a poor country. Information and communications technology (ICT) led the economy to escape poverty and now has made a certain position in Europe. Modern digital services in Estonia are not all managed by the Government but also by many businesses. To date, Estonia's digital services have been "exported" to many markets in Europe, Africa (South Africa and Central Africa), the Middle East, and Asia (Japan and Singapore).

"Vietnam is a potential market for information technology (IT). Helped by the cooperation with VCCI, Estonian businesses hope to learn about the market and cooperation opportunities in the coming time," said the Estonian Ambassador.

VCCI President Pham Tan Cong expressed his strong impressions on Estonia's digital technology development, saying that Estonia has a lot of development achievements in the integration process, especially in technology industries like building e-government and national public service portals. Estonia's IT experiences and achievements are currently highly appreciated by countries around the world.

Vietnam aims to develop high technology, especially digital technology, with an emphasis on semiconductor technology, he said. Currently, Vietnam is a production center of electronic devices, telephones, printers and software technology for manufacturing industries around the world. Many countries are confident that Vietnam, a dynamically developing economy in the world, has much potential for AI development.

Vietnam is also seeing strong digital transformation in all fields, powered by abundant human resources. The country has nearly 400,000 IT engineers and more than 50,000 IT students graduating each year. IT human resources in Vietnam are expected to expand by 2% and technical quality will improve as a result in the coming time. Developing the digital economy is vital for countries around the world and Vietnam is no exception. Vietnam's digital economy is expected to account for 20% of GDP by 2025.

Developing digital technology and electronic governance will help Vietnamese businesses reduce costs and increase transparency amid Vietnam’s entry into new-generation free trade agreements with many regions and countries.

In the coming time, the two sides need to promote cooperation in information technology, cybersecurity and digital transformation. Given its strengths, Estonia can support Vietnam in training human resources in information technology, digital economy and digital society, and provide advice on digital transformation in various important areas. At the same time, the two sides need to take advantage of the benefits generated by the EVFTA and EVIPA agreements, reach consensus on coordinated promotion of goods exchanges like electronics, furniture, agriculture, dairy products and beef.

VCCI President Pham Tan Cong at the working session with Ambassador Hannes Hanso

"VCCI is ready to be a bridge for businesses as well as localities of the two countries to share information and explore ICT investment cooperation opportunities in the coming time. VCCI and the Estonian Embassy need to strengthen relations and exchange information to provide timely information for the business communities of the two sides to bolster cooperation in the future,” said Cong.

Vietnam and Estonia established diplomatic relations on February 20, 1992. Estonia considers Vietnam a priority partner in the Southeast Asia region.

Regarding trade relations, the two-way trade value reached US$62.718 million in 2023, of which Vietnam spent US$24.179 million on imports and earned US$38.539 million from its exports. Vietnam's main exports to Estonia include seafood, vegetables, cashew nuts, coffee, wood products and apparels, while its major imports from Estonia are milk and dairy products, chemicals, rubber, wood and wood products.

On investment, as of December 2023, Estonia had five investment projects in Vietnam with a total registered investment capital of US$280,000.