Vietnam has 'intelligent manufacturing' potential: WEF

Kyriakos Triantafyllidis, Director of Strategy and Growth, WEF Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chain Center, made the assertion at the "Centre for the 4.0 Industrial Revolution in Ho Chi Minh City (C4IR) - New Driving Force for Sustainable Development Conference."

The workshop took place on April 25 at the Galaxy Innovation Hub building, HCMC, and attracted more than 200 leaders from the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, WEF, and businesses, to discuss the C4IR model, as well as solutions to promote the economy.

According to Kyriakos Triantafyllidis, the global manufacturing sector is undergoing many changes, affected by new technology, climate change, and geopolitical tensions.

To respond, the global value chain is gradually restructuring, driven by five trends: globally connected value chain and localization; digital in front-end operations; economics founded on skills; sustainability; and customer value orientation.

This context gives HCMC an advantage as major economies build self-reliance by strengthening domestic production ecosystems.

This comes with an available, stable green energy source and policies developed by the government to attract foreign direct investment.

Kyriakos Triantafyllidis said that Vietnam has many advantages for the high technology sector. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Supporting the agreement, Manju George, Head of the Impact and Strategic Integration Department of C4IR Network and WEF Partner Engagement, said that Vietnam has many potential fields to explore, such as intelligent manufacturing, AI (artificial intelligence), and green transformation.

"The manufacturing industry contributes about 20% of Vietnam's GDP. One of the government's main goals is to increase this ratio to 30% in the coming years, which means that the manufacturing industry plays a very important role in the economy," Manju said.

However, WEF leaders posited that during the transition from the traditional model to high technology, the most challenges come in the form of expertise and skills.

There are currently a number of companies cooperating with universities and the private sector to help the student generation develop appropriate skills.

The most important thing is to speed up this process and train suitable human resources for the future.

In addition, it is more urgent to identify the "differentiating factor" that will make the semiconductor company choose Vietnam instead of another country in the region.

This is the solution that C4IR will deploy in Vietnam: going deep to understand the market, building high-quality human resources, and highlighting it to the world.

This draws from successful lessons at C4IR India, which implemented AI to increase agricultural productivity for 7,000 households, or C4IR Brazil, which applied IoT to modernize operations, increasing investment returns by 192% for more than 80 businesses.

The Center for Industrial Revolution 4.0 (C4IR) in Ho Chi Minh City is the 14th unit of WEF globally.

Established in 2022 with the cooperation of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and the World Economic Forum, the center is expected to go into operation in September this year.

C4IR is considered by WEF to be a "comprehensive strategy" to promote economic transformation with a focus on creative startups, SMEs, venture capital, and technology application and transfer.

Describing the activities of C4IR Ho Chi Minh City, Vo Van Hoan, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, said that the founding members are leading technology enterprises in Vietnam.

In the WEF model, the center can take advantage of the knowledge and experience of the global C4IR network to propose solutions, policies, and initiatives consistent with national orientations and international trends. about technology.

"C4IR helps Ho Chi Minh City and the whole country shape the development of the 4th industrial revolution strategy. Accordingly, the center will become a new driving force to promote sustainable development, creating a strong spillover in the Southeast region. Ministry and the whole country," Hoan said.

Vo Van Hoan, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, gave the opening speech at the program. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Continuing as a co-founding member of C4IR, HDBank brings many years of experience in innovation and operating technology systems according to international standards.

Kim Byoungho, Chairman of HDBank, said that the bank has nearly 35 years of operational experience with the leading operating efficiency in Vietnam.

During 10 years of innovation, the bank has comprehensively digitized business and operational activities, increasing digital momentum for growth goals.

"We are happy when technology initiatives contribute to bringing positive results to society," Kim Byoungho emphasized.

Using the story of 2021 to explain his statement, Kim Byoungho said that at that time, the Standing Vice President of HDBank, Dr. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, launched an initiative with Sovico Group, and FPT Group rescued the HoSE transaction congestion problem for 100 days.

Another example is that during the pandemic period, HDBank and the banking industry supported the "100 billion VND Vaccine Fund," designed a website platform to contribute online to the State Treasury, and organized an international online concert with the City Symphony Orchestra to call for contributions.

These moves helped the Fund attract over VND11,000 billion (nearly US$433.8 million), contributing up to 50% of vaccination costs for 100 million Vietnamese people.

Kim Byoungho, Chairman of HDBank, mentioned his experience in innovation at the bank. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Technology is also employed by the unit to aviation and immigration work for passengers traveling internationally after the social distancing period.

In 2020, the insurance company HD Insurance was established with a digital business model: the contract took effect immediately after the customer received activation information and confirmed insurance premium payment, instead of the traditional approach via paper contract.

Recently, the group cooperated with the OCRU research center at Oxford University to invest in a Ho Chi Minh City hospital to research and apply AI in the medical treatment of tropical diseases.

Kim Byoungho added that the conference is taking place at the Galaxy innovation Hub (GIH) building, invested in by HDBank, demonstrating the bank's vision in the field of high technology.

With a floor area of 35,000 m2, GIH plays the role of a bridge, supporting startups and developing technology businesses.

Regarding banking activities, HDBank and partner Thought Machine deployed a new generation of core banking solutions in the world (Digital Core Banking).

The bank joined hands with many of the world's leading technology partners, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, HP, Visa, and Master, to quickly grasp and integrate technology into the system.

Thanks to that, last year, new customers on digital channels increased by 58% over the same period.

eBanking accounts increased by 73%, the number of transactions on eBanking increased by 86%, financial transactions on eBanking increased by 132%, and the online savings deposit balance (VND) increased by 449%.

The proportion of digital transactions in total individual customer transactions increased to 94% from 77% over the same period last year.

According to the chairman, in the coming time, as a member of C4IR, the unit will continue to apply for and develop high-tech projects.

Along with green transformation and green credit, HDBank will increase funding sources and financial solutions for businesses with high technology content, expecting more technology unicorns to reach out to the world.

Before ending the conference, Vo Van Hoan, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, leaders of the city, WEF, and businesses visited booths displaying high-tech solutions within the framework of the conference.