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Internet helps boost national economy
The internet contributed 0.9 per cent to Viet Nam's total GDP and accounted for 1.6 per cent of the 14.4 per cent annual GDP growth rate, a conference heard today.
The one day conference, organised in Ha Noi by the Viet Nam ICT PressClub, gathered top local and international industry insiders and ICT firms.
The contribution of the internet to Viet Nam's GDP was equivalent to that in Turkey and Morocco, but lower than the 4.1 per cent in Malaysia, 3.2 per cent in India and 2.6 per cent in China, according to a survey conducted by the international market research firm McKinsey.
The survey, named "The internet's impact on aspiring countries", said the web also helped increase productivity in small and medium d enterprises by 19.3 per cent.
"With 19.3 per cent, Viet Nam has one of the highest rates of the 30 countries we surveyed," according to McKinsey Singapore Office vice director Shaowei Ying.
About one third of the country's 30 million internet users shopped online and half of them believed that online shopping gave them more choice, he said.
However, president of Viet Nam Internet Association (VIA) Vu Hoang Lien said the impact of the internet on Viet Nam's social-economy was larger than the quantified data as it helped develop the overall knowledge of the population.
Agreeing with Lien, vice president of VIA Nguyen Thanh Hung added that the internet in Viet Nam currently had a bigger impact on the non-business sector than on the business-related sector.
"However, in five years time this may reverse itself," he said.
The internet arrived in Viet Nam in 1997 and has been growing in popularity ever since. Of the 90 million people who live in Viet Nam, there were 200,000 users in 2000, 10 million in 2005, 20 million in 2008 and 30 million by the end of March 2012.
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