Mediaboss Marketing

The Internet contributes to nine percent of Vietnams gross domestic product (GDP), and 1.6 percent to its GDP growth of 14.4 percent, according to recent global survey.

The contribution is driven by private consumption of Internet-related goods such as broadband and mobile Internet spending, the ICTNews news website said Wednesday, citing a survey done by the US-based McKinsey & Company, Inc.

Theprivate consumption accounts for some 2 percent of Vietnams GDP but it is offset by the countrys large trade deficit in Internet-related goods and services, according to the survey report,Online and upcoming: The Internet's impact on aspiring countries. Results of the survey were announced at a seminar in Hanoi Wednesday.

It pointed out that the GDP contribution of the Internet in Vietnam is still lower than the two percent average for the nine aspiring countries that the company studied in detail.

However, Shaowei Ying, associate principal in McKinseys Singapore office, told the seminar, organized by the Vietnam Club of Information Technology Journalists, that the contribution will soon catch up with the average rate and be probably able to reach 2.5 percent in the future.

On the other hand, McKinseys survey found that e-commerce in Vietnam is still an untapped market with high potential for growth.

It said more than one-third of Internet users have visited an online shopping or auction site. Meanwhile, in another survey, 50 percent of Internet users said they believed that shopping online provides access to a wider variety of products, it added.

But concerns about payment security constrain e-commerce growth potential in Vietnam, according to the survey, saying that just 13 percent of Vietnamese Internet users believe that buying products online is safe.

Moreover, Vietnams foundations for e-commerce activity are low in comparison with more developed countries and regional averages, due to low online payment enablement, McKinsey said in the survey.

According to the survey, Internet users in Vietnam now account for 31 percent of the population which is low compared to neighboring aspiring countries like Malaysia, where the rate is 55 percent, and Taiwan with 72 percent.

Continue reading here:
Internet contributes to 9 pct of Vietnam GDP: survey