Many Vietnamese businesses are positive about Industry 4.0

• Vietnam moves to seize opportunities from Industry 4.0
• Industry 4.0 requires Government to change itself: PM
• Combined efforts needed to enhance access to Industry 4.0
• Be active in responding to and seizing opportunities in Industry 4.0

Aligned to the global movement towards a digital economy, Vietnam is taking the Fourth Industrial Revolution (“Industry 4.0”) in its stride. In a move to help articulate the perceived impacts of Industry 4.0, as well as highlight the challenges faced by Vietnam, PwC has released the key findings from its Industry 4.0 Vietnam Survey 2018.

Overall, respondents to PwC’s survey anticipate that the fast approaching Industry 4.0 will bring significant benefits, such as higher efficiency of operations as well as improved access to customers brought on by digitisation and automation. They are positive about Industry 4.0 despite a lot of uncertainty in terms of the exact impacts.

Yet this journey brings unique challenges to Vietnam compared to global peers, due to the different level of market maturity. Vietnamese respondents are most concerned about a lack of digital standards, insufficient skills in the local talent, and data privacy and security. In particular, there is a limited understanding of the specific skills, knowledge and capabilities required to make digital integration a reality in Vietnam.

Despite many challenges, many Vietnamese businesses are keen to invest, with our estimates putting Vietnam investment appetite 2-3 times higher than the global median, indicating that the strategic advantages offered by Industry 4.0 are embraced properly.

 Grant Dennis, General Director of PwC Consulting Vietnam said: “To move forward with Industry 4.0, acquiring and rolling out digital capabilities and infrastructure across the nation are all-important. Based on our experience advising leading industrial companies and governments all over South East Asia, we have defined a number of practical recommendations, from building awareness via industry bodies, to incentivising network development and creating innovation hubs.”

Some key findings include: 67% of respondents foresee major impacts of Industry 4.0 on their operations 64% indicate that business needs to take the lead in Vietnam’s digitisation efforts Top challenges for Vietnam: lack of digital standards, insufficient skills in the local talent, data privacy and security