By that time, the finance sector will play the role of facilitator, connecting and sharing of data and digital services, meeting demands for public finance transactions and accessing digital information of the government, citizens and enterprises, stated Mai at a conference on September 26. 

Nguyen Thanh Hung, deputy minister of information and communications, added that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is an irreversible trend that Vietnam must be actively involved with. 

In Vietnam, the finance, information and communication sectors have been well-equipped towards digital transformation on the foundation of 4.0 technologies such as Big data, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), among others, Hung continued. 

Moreover, block-chain has been an influential technology that could be applied in most industries, but this is the finance and banking sector where the technology can be use commonly to enhance transparency. 

Hung, however, pointed to some challenges for Vietnam during the digital transformation process, in which cyber security and privacy issues are among the most important. Hung referred to the incident involving technical fault of the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HoSE) leading to its disrupted service in two days in early 2018. 
 
Last weekend, a number of services, including major intermediary payment services have  been unavailable in hours due to issue related to data center. This is an important issue during the process of digital transformation, Hung continued. 

A critical factor during the process is database, according to Hung. However, there remain challenges with regard to human resources, skills, awareness, safety and cyber security. Issues between traditional taxis and ride hailing firms such as Uber and Grab, or cases of cryptocurrency frauds are notable examples for such challenges.