Minister Hung highlighted the efforts made by ASEAN member states to co-ordinate with the WEF across a number of crucial aspects such as data policy, digital skills, e- payments, and cyber security, noting that these features will provide the foundation for the digital economy and digital ASEAN.

He underlined the importance of Industry 4.0 in changing the day to day lives of people and called for increased training in both technology and soft skills to stay abreast of current trends.

In the special discussion held in the presence of Minister Hung, FPT Chairman Truong Gia Binh, several speakers from WEF, Netflix, delegates focused on regional initiatives aimed at helping train the workforce of 20 million people across ASEAN suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by 2020.

Major businesses including FPT, Grab, Microsoft, Google, and VNG, have all committed to participating in the initiative of the ASEAN Digital Skills Vision 2020 as well as co-operating with WEF's program.

Joint effort will see the training of 20 million workers, the setting up of a scholarship fund of US$2 million for students to study technology, and generating jobs for more than 200,000 digital technology workers in SMEs throughout Southeast Asia.

Chairman and CEO of VNG Group Le Hong Minh shared a story relating to digital skills, saying that more than 40 provinces nationwide currently use an e-government system provided by Zalo, even in the nation’s remotest areas.

The VNG Chairman also expressed a keen interest in training skills among young interns, adding that the biggest hurdle is keeping up with demand by having sufficient numbers of trainers who play a crucial role in designing learning programs.

During the discussion, FPT Chairman Truong Gia Binh said FPT pledges to become a vanguard company in the digital transformation. At present, FPT plans to create more jobs, train digital skills for more than 50,000 people, build and develop universities for thousands of students, and pay close attention to training them with new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain.

The company is about to organise internship programs for some 5,000 students annually, not only in Vietnam, but also in regional countries, he added.