HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese and German managers, legal experts, and tech enterprises gathered at a conference in Hà Nội on Thursday to share expertise in building a legal framework for the digital economy as well as innovation-driven growth and sustainable development. 

The event was jointly held by the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS)’s Institute of State and Law and Germany’s Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF). 

VASS Vice President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Đức Minh underscored the need for Việt Nam to establish a rational and advanced legal framework, ensuring freedom of creativity as well as economic stability and sustainable development, as the digital economy has become a driver for global growth. 

Minh added that improving legal institutions is not only a legal requirement but also a foundation to build public trust, protecting people and businesses, and fostering a transparent innovation ecosystem. Learning from countries with advanced rule-of-law systems like Germany will help Việt Nam shorten policy formation time and balance growth with social responsibility, he said. 

Vanessa Steinmetz, Head of FNF Thailand and Việt Nam, stressed that Germany has issued numerous digital-age regulations to maintain a balance between creative freedom and human rights protection, particularly in personal data management. Dr Nguyễn Tiến Đức from the Institute of State and Law called on Vietnamese enterprises to build transparent governance, assess risks regularly, and adopt business ethical standards. He also urged the State to issue sector-specific guidelines, especially for IT and digital economy, support small and medium-sized enterprises to meet global standards, and deepen cooperation with Europe to strengthen Việt Nam’s role in global supply chains. 

Experts at the workshop agreed that personal data has become a valuable economic resource, but it also brings significant risks to privacy and security. Despite the issuance of the Law on Personal Data Protection, Việt Nam should focus on completing a unified legal framework, establishing an independent data protection authority, promoting responsible data governance, and encouraging corporate transparency and user rights protection. — VNS