Create momentum and promote the development of the digital technology industry

DNVN - The draft Law on Digital Technology Industry is designed not to focus on State management but mainly to promote enterprises operating in the digital technology sector with the most favorable mechanisms, preferential policies, processes and procedures for this industry.

The Ministry of Information and Communications is drafting the Law on Digital Technology Industry with the aim of institutionalizing the Party and State's policies and guidelines on developing the ICT and digital technology industries; creating a favorable legal environment for the development of this industry; contributing to digital transformation, creating breakthroughs in productivity, quality and competitiveness of the economy...

At the workshop to collect comments on the Draft Law on Digital Technology Industry organized by the National Assembly's Committee for Science, Technology and Environment and the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) on August 29 in Hanoi, Mr. Nguyen Khac Lich - Director of the Department of Information Technology and Communications Industry (Ministry of Information and Communications) emphasized that in the inevitable trend of digital transformation, building a legal corridor to develop the digital technology industry is extremely necessary.

The drafting agency's viewpoint is to build a law with the most favorable mechanisms, policies, processes and procedures for the digital technology industry, supporting digital technology enterprises to start up digital innovation, promoting Make in Vietnam. However, it still ensures that the responsibilities and State management functions of ministries and branches in assigned fields are not changed or overlapped.

Mr. Nguyen Phuong Tuan - Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment affirmed that digital technology is the main driving force for global economic development. New technologies such as IoT, AI, Big Data, Blockchain... have had a great impact on economic and social life.

Mr. Nguyen Phuong Tuan - Deputy Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology and Environment.

In this context, it is necessary to build and perfect the legal framework for the digital technology industry. The draft law will be submitted to the National Assembly no later than September 10.

Currently, no country in the world has this draft law. The Digital Technology Industry Law Project is not a completely new law but is built on the basis of a chapter of the IT Law. Therefore, this is a challenge for the drafting agency as well as the reviewing agency. Even the concept of "digital technology industry" is not known how to shape? Are digital technology and information technology inherently different, or is digital technology a higher development threshold than IT?

"The rapid development of digital technology is posing many challenges, leading to the need to build a legal framework to achieve a balance between state management and cooperation between management agencies and enterprises. We feel that this law is designed not to focus on state management but mainly to promote enterprises operating in the digital technology field. Therefore, the draft contains many words and phrases such as: priority, incentives, promotion, development...", Mr. Tuan stated.

Mr. Phan Duc Trung - Permanent Vice President of Vietnam Blockchain Association said that the Draft Law on Digital Technology Industry this time adds regulations on technology testing, allowing enterprises to test digital technology products and services in a controlled environment. This demonstrates openness and creates favorable conditions for the development of digital technology, encouraging innovation.

Mr. Phan Duc Trung - Permanent Vice President of Vietnam Blockchain Association.

The draft law establishes a unified, transparent and effective state management system for the digital technology industry, helping to create trust for businesses and investors.

However, according to Mr. Trung, in order for enterprises to operate more openly and effectively, there needs to be close coordination between State management agencies, enterprises and the community. There needs to be coordination between laws at the Government's enforcement level. There needs to be specific solutions to raise enterprises' awareness of legal regulations, create favorable conditions for enterprises to access support policies and strictly handle violations of the law.

Meanwhile, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu - CEO of Bay Global Strategies, Deputy Head of Digital Economy, American Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham) said that it is necessary to create an equal and balanced approach to effectively manage the industry.

"We understand that the draft law aims to establish a legal framework to support new technology industries such as semiconductors, AI, blockchain, etc. However, the Ministry of Information and Communications' policy of prioritizing investment, hiring, and purchasing domestically produced digital technology products and services may lead to unfair treatment of the foreign business community. The overarching goal of the policy should be to select the best service provider based on merit/capacity, regardless of where the provider is headquartered/where the service is provided to bring the best benefits to the people," said Ms. Thu.

Regarding the issue of incentive mechanisms, Mr. Nguyen Khac Lich - Director of the Department of Information Technology Industry (Ministry of Information and Communications) said that the drafting agency did not propose incentive mechanisms but referred to and applied incentive mechanisms of other laws such as the Investment Law, Tax Law, etc.

"From now until the law is enacted, there will certainly be many amendments because we are always looking for ideas aimed at development, feasibility for businesses, and creating favorable mechanisms for businesses," Mr. Lich emphasized.

The opinions contributed at the workshop will be fully absorbed, synthesized and further studied by the Drafting Committee in the process of completing the draft law to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and discussion at the upcoming 8th session.

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Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/chuyen-doi-so/kinh-te-so/tao-dong-luc-thuc-day-nganh-cong-nghiep-cong-nghe-so-phat-trien/20240830020107114