Support coming for the digital transformation of SMEs

Digital transformation has become key for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to cure their “ills” and has been viewed as a new method of adaptation during the pandemic, a conference to promote a program to support SMEs in digital transformation in 2022, held by the Ministry of Information and Communications (MoIC) on March 24, heard.

Enterprises undergoing digital transformation are twice as productive and profitable as those still to take on the process, Mr. Nguyen Trong Duong, Deputy Director of the Department of Enterprise Management at MoIC, told the conference. If digital transformation for SMEs was promoted, it would increase Vietnam’s GDP by some $30 billion by 2024.

After implementing a program to support SMEs in digital transformation in 2021, involving 16,000 enterprises, MoIC decided to continue the program in 2022, with the goal of having 30,000 businesses given support in the process.

Businesses will receive financial support from the State budget for their digital transformation efforts. Specifically, under Decree No. 80/2021/ND-CP detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles in the Law on Support for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, they will receive 50 per cent support if they rent or purchase commercial platforms or digital transformation platforms and solutions certified by MoIC.

According to Mr. Nguyen Huy Dung, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, to support the digital transformation of SMEs, the ministry will cooperate with all of Vietnam’s 63 cities and provinces this year to conduct a program on encouraging SMEs to undertake digital transformation, create a network of digital economic consultants, and organize a network of community digital technology groups as a focal point.