Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam is ranked 63rd out of 113 global economies in a global ranking of digital environment andsupport systems for entrepreneurs, a new index developed by theAsian Development Bank (ADB).

Released earlier this week as part of the Asian DevelopmentOutlook (ADO) 2022, the Global Index of Digital Entrepreneurship Systems(GIDES) puts Singapore in the first place, followed by the United States and Sweden.

“Digital entrepreneurship helped economies stay afloatduring the COVID-19 pandemic, and it can become a major engine of growth andinnovation in the post-pandemic world,” said ADB Chief Economist Albert Park.

“For this to happen, there needs to be a supportiveenvironment enabled by conducive policies and incentives. While the environmentfor Asia’s digital entrepreneurs made substantial strides in the past couple ofyears, there’s still a lot of room for improvement.”

The index measures the quality of the environment fordigital entrepreneurs by looking at the level of digitalisation in eight areas,namely culture, institutions, market conditions, infrastructure, human capital,knowledge, finance, and networking.

In addition to investing in digital infrastructure such asbroadband networks, governments need to promote political stability, reliablelegal systems, open and competitive markets, and strong property rights.

For Asia and the Pacific as a whole, an insufficientlysupportive culture is among the biggest weak spots when it comes to nurturingdigital entrepreneurship. One example is a general lack of public appreciationfor the vital role that entrepreneurs play in economic progress. One way tochange this is to improve the public perception of entrepreneurship througheducation./.