“The Ministry of Finance has recently issued the Framework for assessing the maturity of digital transformation coupled with green transformation for small and medium-sized enterprises, enabling them to accurately assess their current situation, determine a roadmap for digital transformation coupled with green transformation, and enhance their competitiveness in the new development phase.”
Digital transformation cannot be reduced merely to the use of software, computers, social media or certain technological devices, as these alone are insufficient to bring about fundamental changes in business operations. What is important is to link the application of technology with innovation in management practices, efficient use of resources, reduction of environmental impacts, and the development of sustainable business models.
To contribute to advancing this process, the Ministry of Finance issued Decision No. 2515/QĐ-BTC dated 8 September 2026 promulgating the Framework for assessing the maturity of digital transformation coupled with green transformation for enterprises, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized ones. The Decision provides an important basis for enterprises to identify their current capabilities, determine areas requiring improvement, and progressively develop a transformation roadmap suited to their actual conditions.
According to the Decision, the assessment Framework is designed to measure, determine and monitor the maturity of digital transformation coupled with green transformation within each enterprise; to provide qualitative, quantitative and standardized tools to clearly identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement; and establish a basis for developing improvement roadmaps and optimizing resources.
This orientation is of practical significance for small and medium-sized enterprises. When financial, human and technological resources remain limited, transformation driven by trends or investments lacking a clear focus may result in waste. Conversely, with an appropriate assessment tool, enterprises can progressively determine their current position, identify the issues that should be prioritized, and determine which areas should receive investment first.
Digital transformation coupled with green transformation should be understood as a comprehensive improvement process in which technology serves as a means, management provides the foundation, and production and business efficiency and sustainable development constitute important objectives.
The Assessment Framework comprises 3 pillars, 9 components, 36 dimensions and 62 criteria
According to Decision No. 2515/QĐ-BTC, the Framework for assessing the maturity of digital transformation coupled with green transformation for enterprises is structured into four levels, comprising 3 pillars at level 1, 9 components at level 2, 36 dimensions at level 3, and 62 assessment criteria at level 4.
The three main pillars forming the structure of the Assessment Framework are as follows:
First, strategy and governance.
For enterprises, this requires leaders to take direct responsibility for the transformation process, clearly define transformation objectives, assign responsibilities, develop plans and allocate appropriate resources. Digital transformation cannot succeed if it is assigned solely to the information technology division while other departments and employees are not involved.
Second, value chain management and operations.
This is an area in which enterprises have significant opportunities to undertake practical transformation. Digitizing purchasing processes, inventory management, raw-material monitoring, production control, order management and customer service can help enterprises strengthen operational oversight. When coupled with green transformation, these processes should also seek to promote resource efficiency, reduce waste, improve energy efficiency and minimize adverse environmental impacts.
Third, data and technology. This pillar reflects the role of data, technological systems and digital solutions in the organization, management and operation of enterprises. Technology should be selected on the basis of actual needs, investment capacity, and its suitability to the enterprise’s scale and development objectives.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, the issue is not necessarily to invest in costly systems from the outset. What is important is to identify the right problems to be addressed, progressively standardize data, digitize processes, strengthen connectivity, and ensure the security of information management and utilization.
* Five levels of maturity: Accurately identify their position in order to progress
The Assessment Framework defines five levels of maturity for digital transformation coupled with green transformation, based on a score range from 1.0 to 5.0. These levels are: Level 1 – Basic; Level 2 – Initiating; Level 3 – Proactive; Level 4 – Advanced; and Level 5 – Innovative.
These five levels provide a roadmap-based approach. Enterprises are not required to implement all elements simultaneously, but should determine appropriate steps based on their current situation, resources and objectives.
At the initial stage, enterprises need to focus on assessing the current state of governance, production processes, data, technology and resource use. Once areas of weakness have been identified, enterprises can prioritize measures that have a direct impact on operational efficiency, such as digitizing records, managing goods, controlling costs, managing energy use or improving production processes.
At higher levels of maturity, the requirements extend beyond simply having digital tools, it is strengthening integration and automation, data-driven management, performance assessment and continuous improvement. At this stage, digital transformation coupled with green transformation becomes an integral part of the enterprise’s development strategy, management culture and operating model.
It should be emphasized that maturity assessment should not be understood merely as a competition based on scores. The core value of the Assessment Framework lies in helping enterprises accurately identify their capabilities, determine the gaps that need to be addressed, and develop an appropriate development roadmap.
* Enterprises need to proactively participate in assessment and develop transformation roadmaps
According to Decision No. 2515/QĐ-BTC, the Assessment Framework is applied uniformly nationwide to support the measurement and assessment of, and provide guidance for enhancing, the capacity for digital transformation coupled with green transformation in accordance with enterprises’ needs. The scope of application covers enterprises in Viet Nam, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises, while also involving state management agencies, business associations, consulting organizations, expert networks, and providers of digital and green transformation solutions.
The Decision stipulates that enterprises are responsible for proactively participating in periodic assessments in order to identify capability gaps, optimize their operational roadmaps, and provide a basis for accessing enterprise support policies and financial resources.
For effective implementation, each enterprise should begin by raising awareness among its leadership, officials and employees regarding the significance of digital transformation coupled with green transformation. It is necessary to clearly recognize that transformation is a task involving the entire enterprise, rather than the responsibility of an individual or a single department.
Enterprises should then conduct a review of their current situation based on the groups of elements identified in the Assessment Framework; determine their strengths and weaknesses, processes that remain manual, resources that are not being used efficiently, and technology requirements that should be prioritized.
On this basis, enterprises should develop transformation plans in phases, linked to specific objectives, persons in charge, implementation resources and mechanisms for monitoring results. Priorities should be selected in a focused manner, avoiding dispersed investment while ensuring alignment with the enterprise’s scale, sector and financial capacity.
Enterprises should also place emphasis on training and developing digital skills among workers; strengthening cooperation with associations, consulting organizations and solution providers; regularly assessing results; adjusting plans; and sharing experience throughout the implementation process.
Utilizing the roles of government agencies, associations and support organizations
For the Assessment Framework to be effectively implemented in practice, enterprises’ proactive engagement needs to be combined with the responsibility of government agencies and supporting organizations.
According to the Decision, People’s Committees of provinces and centrally governed municipalities are responsible for directing their subordinate agencies to broadly disseminate the Assessment Framework among the local business community; guide and urge organizations and entities supporting enterprises to participate in its implementation; and integrate it into enterprise support programmes and plans linked to socio-economic development.
Associations and business organizations have a role in communication, dissemination, training, awareness raising and encouraging their members to proactively undertake self-assessment through the online system while taking responsibility for consolidating feedback and recommendations from enterprises in order to propose adjustments to the Assessment Framework in line with the specific characteristics of different sectors and fields.
The Department for Private Enterprise and Collective Economic Development under the Ministry of Finance is responsible for publishing and providing guidance on the use of the Assessment Framework, digitizing and integrating it into the Business Portal at https://business.gov.vn; operating and maintaining the system and collecting data; and periodically reviewing, revising, updating and supplementing the criteria and component indicators in accordance with practical conditions.
Coordination among the State, associations, experts, solution providers and the business community will contribute to establishing an ecosystem that supports digital transformation coupled with green transformation, enabling enterprises to access information, tools and resources more conveniently.
In a business environment that increasingly emphasizes productivity, quality, transparency, resource efficiency and environmental responsibility, enterprises cannot rely solely on traditional management approaches to maintain their competitive advantages. Digital transformation coupled with green transformation is a long-term process requiring innovative thinking, perseverance and a focused approach.
Each enterprise needs to translate awareness into concrete action; each transformation plan should be linked to a practical issue; and each technology investment should pursue clearly identifiable efficiency gains. When digital transformation is implemented in an integrated manner with green transformation, not only can enterprises strengthen their capacity to adapt but also establish a stronger basis for stable, efficient and sustainable development.
Translated by Đặng Thị Lâm Tuyền By Tuyết Mai