HCM City (VNA) – Business leaders and economic experts discussed how an open economy like Vietnam shoulddeal with risks and impacts in the wake of international economic andtechnological upheavals at a business forum themed“Navigating the digital age” held by Forbes Vietnamin HCM City on August 15.

For years, Vietnam’seconomic growth has been driven by exports and investment. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates the economy will grow 6.8 percent in 2019, the highest growth rate in theregion. The first half of the year has seen a good business environment withstable interest and exchange rates, inflation under control while industry andservice sectors are steadily growing.

Meanwhile,US-China trade tensions are causing uncertainties for the global economy. Theconfrontation between the world’s two largest economies, which are alsoVietnam’s major economic partners, has great impacted the country’s trade,investment and monetary policies.

It isinevitable for an open economy like Vietnam to suffer from the impacts of current global economicuncertainties, said Dr. Chua Hak Bin, Senior Economist at Maybank Kim Eng. Vietnam’s exports to the US have increased 30 percent over the pastseveral years, bringing the country more opportunities to boost exports andclimb the global supply chain, he noted.

Vietnam rankedsecond among Southeast Asian countries in foreign direct investment (FDI)attraction, after Singapore, and FDI flows into the country were quite diverse,stable and barely dependent on any economy, the economist added.

He advisedVietnam to adopt preferential policies to lure FDI from more countries and in manufacturing and that the country should beprepared to make the most use of FDI shifts from other countries to Vietnamthat are making changes in labour costs, taxation and land.

Tran DinhThien, member of the NationalFinancial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, said Vietnam has signed new-generation free tradeagreements with major partners, such as the Comprehensive and ProgressiveAgreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU – Vietnam Free TradeAgreement (EVFTA); whichensure the country’s reformcommitments, and thus making the country a more attractive destination in the global market.

Thien saidVietnam's economy hasgrown well throughout the last three years, not just the first half of2019.

He underlined the need for Vietnam topromote a digital economy, saying if the country fails to enter the digital economy, it may beexcluded from the global market. Digital transformation is key to lifting Vietnam’s position in the world’s freetrade market, he noted.

Vietnam’s percapita income and labour productivity remains relatively low, founder, Chairman and CEO of TBS GroupNguyen Duc Thuan said. To sustainably develop the economy with improved competitiveness, the country should deploy digital-basedmanagement, enhance productivity and help firms develop digital databases and apply digital technology, Thuan said.

A recent studyby the Institute for Global Leadership under the US-based Tufts Universityshowed Vietnam ranks 48th out of 60 countries globally in terms of rapidlyswitching to the digitaleconomy. The readiness of theVietnamese market is fairly high so not only businesses but also consumers willface few barriers to participating in digital transformation. In otherwords, Vietnam has been accelerating digital transformation not only byincreasing awareness but also by adopting new business models.

Most banks inVietnam now have a mobilebanking system that gives customers no choice but giving up their old banking habits and catch up withthe digitalisation, Joan Ziegler, CEO of Sequent, Inc said.

Thedigitalisation has changed the way a business interact with its customers andpartners and at the same time, shifted values from producers and suppliers to customers, said Partner of McKinsey & CompanyBruce Delteil, adding that to solve challenges to the digital transformation, abusiness leader need to sit down with his human resources team to create aculture of innovation in his company, and with that culture, the company willselect a proper strategy fordigital transformation based on existing personnel or outsourcing partners.–VNA