Businesses urged to upgrade IT operations

Businesses urged to upgrade IT operations

Vietnamese companies need to make better use of information technology, including e-commerce, so they can be more competitive in the global workforce, participants at a recent conference held in HCM City said.

Nguyen Trong Duong, head of the Department of Information Technology, said internet use had climbed, with 131 million mobile phone subscriber and 40 million internet users.

Vu Lam at Google Inc in Viet Nam said surveys showed that Viet Nam ranked second in terms of internet usage in the region, with time spent on internet penetration equaling time spent watching television.

Businesses should make advertising plans based on these new trends, he said.

In addition, nine out of 10 people access the internet via their mobile phones, making marketing on mobiles more important.

He said that companies should develop well-designed web pages that can be accessed via mobile phone.

Duong noted that e-commerce had changed customers' habits, with many of them looking for information first online before buying in stores.

With e-commerce, local businesses can communicate better, promote products more efficiently and reduce costs and increase profits, he said.

Nguyen Tan Trung, general director of Mobivi, said online transactions had become more popular in the last five years.

Conference participants said that enterprises should enhance the use of IT in management for better control of their system. This would help reduce costs and improve labour productivity.

Investment in IT is a long-term strategy and enterprises must identify their priorities first to avoid scattered investments.

Although more companies are becoming aware of e-commerce, they do not update their websites and have not taken full advantages of IT in their business activities.

The conference was organised by the Young Business People's Association and the HCM City Computer Association.

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