One morning in Duc Luong Commune, Thai Nguyen Province, inside the processing workshop of Kien Thai Nguyen Tea Cooperative, Nguyen Hong Kien checks the production line while using a smartphone to livestream and introduce products. Customers from many provinces and cities continuously ask questions about flavour, processing methods, and how to preserve the tea.
Digital transformation opens opportunities
Just a few years ago, selling products in this way was almost unfamiliar. Product distribution then depended mainly on traders or traditional distribution channels. As a result, selling prices were often unstable, intermediary costs were high, and consumer markets were limited.
Nguyen Hong Kien, Director of Kien Thai Nguyen Tea Cooperative, said that although the cooperative is located quite far from the centre, after applying digital transformation and selling on e-commerce platforms, its tea products have become better known to customers across the country.
The story of Kien Thai Tea Cooperative is only one of many examples showing that digital transformation is creating positive changes for the collective economic sector.
In Linh Son Ward, Thai Nguyen Province, Ong Vang Agricultural Cooperative currently manages more than 1,000 bee colonies, producing between 15 and 20 tonnes of honey each year. Instead of manual record-keeping as before, the cooperative has developed software to manage bee colonies and related products. All data from production volume and quality to the care process for bee colonies are digitised and automatically monitored.
Pham Hong Oanh, Director of Ong Vang Agricultural Cooperative, said that honey products are now listed on e-commerce platforms, helping to expand consumption markets.
According to the Thai Nguyen Provincial Cooperative Alliance, the bold application of science and technology and digital transformation in production, such as applying the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) in tea and vegetable cultivation or aquaculture, has helped many cooperatives reduce losses by between 15% and 20%, while also improving product quality.
In particular, revenue from online sales channels of many cooperatives has increased by an average of about 30% each year, helping local agricultural products reach broader markets.
Nguyen Van Dung, Chairman of the Thai Nguyen Provincial Cooperative Alliance, said: “Many cooperatives have now applied digital transformation in production, distribution, delivery, and payment. This is a strategic factor that helps reduce costs, lower prices, and improve competitiveness.”
These are fundamental advantages that led to this locality being selected to implement a pilot programme supporting nearly 20,000 wholesale and retail household businesses in digital transformation. The programme is being carried out with the coordination of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the People’s Committee of Thai Nguyen Province. The programme aims to survey and assess the level of digital transformation among household businesses, organise hundreds of training courses on digital skills, and support the deployment of sales management platforms, electronic payments, and e-invoices.
Permanent Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Vu Hai Quan said that in 2024 Thai Nguyen ranked eighth among 34 provinces and cities in terms of the level of digital transformation. The locality has also consistently been among the leading provinces nationwide in the index measuring services for citizens and businesses in administrative procedure reform. Most household businesses and enterprises in the province have adopted electronic invoices, creating favourable conditions for expanding comprehensive digital solutions.
New policies create strong momentum
For many years, most small household businesses have operated using traditional methods, with manual bookkeeping, cash payments, and limited use of modern management tools. However, the new context is creating a need for change.
Under Government Decree No. 70, household businesses must manage revenue transparently and use electronic invoices. In addition, according to Hoang Ninh, Deputy Director of the E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency, from January 1, 2026, the lump-sum tax method will be replaced by tax declaration based on actual revenue. This requires household businesses to use electronic invoices and accurate revenue management tools.
Therefore, in addition to technical support measures, the Ministry of Science and Technology is collecting opinions on a draft decree detailing several articles of the Law on Digital Transformation. One notable provision in the draft is a mechanism to support digital transformation costs for small enterprises and the household business sector. This policy aims to promote the application of technology in production and business activities.
These entities will be grouped according to operational scale to apply different levels of support. Household businesses, cooperatives, and micro-enterprises are proposed to receive support covering up to 100% of the cost of renting digital technology solutions. These solutions include sales management platforms, electronic invoices, electronic documents, digital signatures, and e-commerce platforms. The specific list will be announced and updated by the Ministry of Finance.
These platforms are considered basic tools that help enterprises initially participate in the digital business environment. Covering the full cost of renting platforms in the early stage is expected to reduce financial pressure on businesses. As a result, enterprises will have more motivation to access and experiment with digital business models.
In addition to support for technology costs, the draft also proposes covering 100% of the costs of participating in training courses on awareness and digital transformation skills. The courses focus on improving basic digital capacity for household business owners and enterprise personnel. This is considered an important factor in helping enterprises effectively use technology platforms.
Micro-enterprises and household businesses will also receive full support for purchasing or renting cybersecurity services. The goal is to protect information systems and data during operations in the digital environment. These entities will also receive free assessments of digital transformation readiness before implementation.
According to the drafting agency, this support policy aims to reduce cost barriers when enterprises begin deploying technology solutions.
When costs are reduced, household businesses and cooperatives will have more motivation to experiment with new business models, from multi-channel sales to customer data management, and optimisation of production activities. This is also an important step in encouraging the small-scale economic sector to participate more deeply in the rapidly growing digital economy in Viet Nam.
According to Deputy Minister Vu Hai Quan, for digital transformation to “permeate the bloodstream” of the economy, it must begin with millions of small retail shops. Technologies introduced for use must be easy to understand, easy to use, and bring clear benefits such as better cash flow management, more convenient sales, and more effective legal compliance. In this way, household businesses will become an important driving force for expanding the digital economy.
Thai Nguyen currently has more than 1,300 cooperatives and tens of thousands of household businesses operating in various sectors. In recent years, the locality has strengthened training in digital skills, e-commerce, online marketing, and brand building for the collective economic sector.
