Digital Transformation: The Key to SMEs Accessing Modern Credit

ESG and digital transformation are no longer options, but strategic imperatives

Strategy is only effective when accompanied by action and consensus, that is the message emphasized by Mr. Sam Hanna, CEO and Vice President of ASEAN Strategy of Shell Global Lubricants, at the Workshop on “Digital Transformation Solutions and ESG Practice” held on June 24.

Citing a notable statistic, he said: 92% of business strategies fail due to lack of specific action plans and lack of commitment from leaders to employees.

Speakers at the conference

With ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), the gap between strategy and implementation is even more pronounced. While 80% of companies claim to have an ESG commitment, 34% have not developed any specific programs. Meanwhile, only 15% of large companies have a full ESG report, and 76% lack a clear ESG governance structure, including roles, responsibilities and oversight mechanisms.

Mr. Hanna believes that in the context of a rapidly shifting global economy , ESG is no longer a choice, but a mandatory strategy. Vietnam is now facing a decisive moment, needing to solve the dual problem of rapid growth and sustainable growth. These two goals are not mutually exclusive if ESG is the bridge.

Dr. Luong Thai Bao (Institute of Banking and Finance, National Economics University).

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, Dr. Luong Thai Bao (Institute of Banking and Finance, National Economics University) said that strategy is only truly valuable when linked to implementation capacity.

According to him, at the national level, Vietnam is facing a choice between rapid growth and sustainable growth. In the new growth model, technology plays a central role, deployed on three pillars: research and development (R&D), innovation and startups.

The current national competitiveness strategy has been based on digital technology , in which digital transformation is not only an industrial development goal, but also a tool to implement other national strategies. This is also an important driving force to promote innovation and comprehensive growth.

At the enterprise level, Dr. Bao emphasized that enterprises are places where resources converge to plan, execute and achieve goals. In that model, technology is the endogenous growth factor, helping to effectively combine labor and capital.

From this perspective, ESG and digital transformation are not two separate paths, but both aim to optimize production efficiency while still complying with environmental and social responsibility constraints. This is the inevitable path to improve productivity, competitiveness and adaptability of enterprises in the context of globalization.

Overcoming the human resource challenge, the “bottleneck” of ESG and digitalization

Dr. Phung Van Dong, Director of AIT Vietnam, affirmed: “Without the right people, digital transformation and ESG will just be slogans.” While businesses are still struggling to find personnel with enough knowledge to integrate technology - environment - management, the market lacks practical training programs that are updated promptly with the changing speed of technology, especially AI and blockchain.

According to Mr. Dong, the partnership between businesses and training organizations is the only solution to create a quality human resource ecosystem for ESG and digitalization strategies.

VietinBank has implemented many practical solutions to support small and medium-sized enterprises, from flexible credit products, modern digital banking services to in-depth consulting support. The bank is also a pioneer in integrating sustainable development factors (ESG) and digital transformation into its operations, accompanying businesses on the journey to improve competitiveness and long-term sustainable development.

VietinBank is a bank that has been honored for many consecutive years as "Best SME Bank in Vietnam", thanks to its practical initiatives, close to the real needs of businesses.

Minh Quan

Source: https://doanhnghiepvn.vn/kinh-te/kinh-doanh/chuyen-doi-so-chia-khoa-de-sme-tiep-can-tin-dung-hien-dai/20250630093744330