Hanoi needs to strengthen education and training, raise awareness and responsibility of officials and business support organizations in digital transformation, and help businesses access to digital economy.

Dang Thi Huong, deputy director of the Hanoi Business Support Center under the city's Department of Planning and Investment, made the statement at the "Digital Transformation for Small and Medium Enterprises in Hanoi" seminar held this week by the Hanoi Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion (HPA).

"Hanoi is one of the leading localities in providing technology support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as digital transformation consulting solutions for enterprises in trade, management, production, technology, and business model transformation," Huong told the Vietnam Government Portal (VGP).

Following the release of the plan, the Hanoi Business Support Center installed software to collect and analyze data, create digital transformation tools, documents and solutions, and assess the digital transformation readiness of Hanoi SMEs on the https://hotrodoanhnghiep.cds.hanoi.gov.vn website.

Garment Corporation 10 invests technology in its production lines to increase competitiveness. Photo: Khac Kien/The Hanoi Times

"The software has been integrated into Hanoi's business support portal to assess the level of digital transformation readiness of enterprises," the deputy director said.

In addition, Hanoi has promoted communication to raise awareness of digital transformation to promote digital activities in enterprises, such as the Youtube page "Hanoi Digital Transformation - SCE", with 134 videos, has nearly 10,000 subscribers.

Training and human resource development for SMEs on digital transformation has been widely implemented, such as 40 online lectures on digital transformation; 108 training courses on digital transformation held in 108 production and processing enterprises; 10 training courses on digital transformation plans and strategies for small and medium enterprise managers; 120 training courses on business startup (9,600 students); and 88 training courses on business management for small and medium enterprises on digital transformation.

For the period 2021-2025, Hanoi has set aside a stable budget to ensure that the work of supporting enterprises in digital transformation is synchronized, continuous, and effective.

According to the deputy director of the Hanoi Business Support Center, digital transformation today not only improves employee productivity, opens up new network connections, and reduces departmental gaps within the company, but it also boosts competitiveness and improves product quality.

"To maintain and improve competitiveness in an increasingly complex business environment, companies must adapt to change and leverage digital technology to streamline operations, improve performance and quality, and create value for customers," said Huong.

She said that digital transformation plays an important role in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and is of great impact to businesses, especially SMEs.

In recent years, Hanoi enterprises have been aware that digital transformation is not a trend, but an important factor to maintain and develop businesses in the digital age world.

Digital transformation is not a one-off fad; it is an indispensable step. "If companies, especially small and medium enterprises, stay on the sidelines of the digital transformation race, they will face difficulties in the future, even failure. However, to be successful, a detailed strategy is needed in the digital transformation process," she added.

SMEs in Hanoi are expected to improve awareness of digital transformation by 2025, and 90,000 newly founded businesses will receive assistance with digital transformation. All businesses in the city will use electronic invoices and digital signatures.