Tokyo (VNA) – Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh joined a working sessionwith leaders of ma🐟jor Japanese firms in digital transformation on November 24,during his official visit to Japan.

Addressing the event, the Vietnamese PM affirmed thatdigital transformation has an influence on all countries and people and Vietnamhas carried out the work in an inclusive and connected approach while promotingpublic-private cooperation.

The country boasts strengths in economic developmentand digital transformation, with a fast-growing and open economy.

Vietnam has signed 17 free trade agreements with morethan 60 economies, including major markets of the U🅺S, the European Union, Japan,China and the Republic of Korea. The country’s digital transformation capacity isevident and international friends and partners have shown support for the process in Vietnam, he added.

Vietnam has built a national digital transformationprogramme until 2025 and with a vision to 2030. The process is expected tocontribute 20 percent to the gross domestic product by 2025 and 30 percent by2030. In the coming time, Vietnam will continue to completedigital transformation institution in accordance with reality and allocate suitableand efficient financial sources to the work.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications NguyenHuy Dung said COVID-19 has sped up digital transformation in Vietnam.
The ratio of online public service users doubled to 24 percent during the pandemic period from that recorded in the past 20 years.

Besides, some 80 percent of Vietnamese students arelearning online, higher than the average of over 60 percent unveiled by the Organisationfor Economic Coopﷺeration and Development.

Japanese firms are encourged to join Vietnam's digital transformation process. Also on August 24, PMChinh hosted President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) KitaokaShinichi. The two sides notedwith satisfaction that the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership hasbeen thriving across all fields, with a high level of political trust.

The VietnameseGovernment leader highly valued the role and significant contributions of JICAin the implementation of official development assistance (ODA) projects inVietnam and the prompt provision of more than 4 million doses of COVID-19vaccine and medical supplies from the Japanese government, which supportsVietnam to roll out programmes improving its response capacity to the pandemicand health care services amid the complicated development of COVID-19.

PM Chinh spoke highlyof recovery prospects of the👍 Japanese econom🐼y, believing that the two nationsneed to cooperate more closely in the battle against COVID-19 and economicrecovery and development.

Given that the SoutheastAsian nation requires an enormous amount of capital for strategicinfrastructure development, he called on Japan to provide new generation ODAfunding for Vietnam in a flexible manner, focusing on the six sectors of healthcare, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation,digital transformation, sustainable development, social welfare in relation to thenegative impacts of COVID-19, and strategic infrastructure development. Vietnam will striveto raise the efficiency in the use of ODA, create favourable conditions forJICA experts to work in Vietnam in the context of COVID-19, and minimise impactson projects’ progress. For his part, Kitaokahailed the effectiveness of ODA projects in Vietnam, adding that JICA will take a successful model to support the construction of large hospitals inVietnam over the years as an example, to build 100 others in various countries. He pledged to furthersupport Vietnam in economic development, focusing on cooperation in healthcare, public investment and human resources development./.