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PPI Unveils Report Measuring Vietnam’s App Economy at Public Forum in Hanoi

Report estimates 29,000 App jobs in Vietnam

HANOI—The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) today released a new policy report at a public forum in Hanoi, which measures the growing contribution of digital innovation to the Vietnamese economy, compares the environment for investment in Vietnam to other locations in Southeast Asia, and warns of potential policy pitfalls and regulations that might harm future digital growth and economic prosperity in the country.

The report, “Vietnam and the App Economy,” is an effort to measure the thousands of app-related jobs created in Vietnam since the introduction of the smartphone in 2007. Based on a methodology PPI Chief Economic Strategist Dr. Michael Mandel has developed to estimate app job growth in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia, the study is the first to quantify the number of Vietnamese jobs that are directly related to the building, maintenance, support and marketing of applications for smart-devices.

“Vietnam has a rapidly growing number of app developers—these are the people who design and create the apps distributed domestically and internationally,” writes Dr. Mandel, author of the report. “Moreover, Vietnamese companies that do app development also have to hire sales people, project managers, database programmers and other types of workers. Finally, each app developer supports a certain number of local jobs.

“In this paper, we estimate that Vietnam has roughly 29,000 App Economy jobs across the entire country. In addition, we show that Vietnam has the top-rated App Economy in Southeast Asia (including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines).

“Why is this important? The App Economy is the whole ecosystem of jobs, companies, and income connected with mobile apps. The rise of the App Economy may offer low- and middle-income countries such as Vietnam a faster route to economic success.”

In addition, PPI’s mission to Vietnam includes meetings with: Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Vietnam Ministry of Information and Communication; Vietnam Ministry of Science and Technology; Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment; Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education; Saigon Hi-Tech Park Management Board; U.S. Embassy Vietnam; American Chamber of Commerce Vietnam; Viettel Corporation; FPT Software; and Vietnam Silicon Valley.

Please contact Cody Tucker at ctucker@ppionline.org with media requests or questions.

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The Progressive Policy Institute is an independent, innovative and high-impact D.C.-based think tank founded in 1989. Through research, policy analysis and dialogue, PPI develops break-the-mold ideas aimed at economic growth, national security and modern, performance-based government. Today, PPI’s unique mix of political realism and policy innovation continues to make it a leading source of pragmatic and creative ideas. PPI is a non-profit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) educational organization.