Vietnam’s publishing industry is stepping up efforts to build a comprehensive digital ecosystem as reading habits rapidly shift toward online platforms, posing both opportunities and challenges for the sector.
Nguyen Canh Binh, Chairman of Alpha Books, shares his views at the Vietnam Digital Publishing Summit 2025 (DPS 2025) with the theme "The Future of Publishing in a Global Digital Age". Photo: VNA
According to the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution, the country currently has 52 publishing houses. In 2025, the industry produced more than 51,000 publications, with around 543 million copies and online accesses, generating total revenue of over 4.1 trillion VND (nearly 155.64 million USD).
However, the sector is facing mounting difficulties, notably the swift transformation of the book market as readers increasingly turn to the digital environment. This trend requires publishers to diversify formats and develop new types of publications.
Statistics showed that in 2025, more than 5,200 e-publications were released nationwide, attracting approximately 35 million online visits. So far, 35 out of 52 publishers have engaged in digital publishing.
Despite this progress, the figure remains modest compared to the scale of print publishing, indicating that digital transformation in the sector is still at an early stage and needs to be accelerated.
Beyond content digitisation, digital transformation in publishing also involves building online distribution platforms, copyright management systems, reader databases, and market analytics tools – all key components of a modern publishing ecosystem.
Within this ecosystem, authors, publishers, distributors, technology firms and readers are interconnected through digital platforms. Data on reading preferences, market trends and distribution performance can be continuously analysed and updated, enabling publishers to adjust their content strategies accordingly.
Another pressing issue facing the industry is copyright infringement and book piracy. Despite strengthened inspections and enforcement, counterfeit and pirated books continue to circulate in increasingly sophisticated forms.
Improving copyright protection mechanisms and strengthening monitoring and enforcement in the digital environment remain top priorities. The legal framework also needs further refinements to keep pace with technological advances and emerging publishing models. Amendments to regulations governing e-publishing, digital content management and online distribution are being considered to create a more favourable legal corridor for the sector’s development.
Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Phan Tam said that in the future, publishing will evolve beyond printing and distribution to become a knowledge-based content industry.
Accordingly, print books, e-books, audiobooks and digital learning platforms will be integrated into a unified ecosystem. To realise this vision, the publishing sector needs to prioritise improving content quality, investing in digital technology, developing human resources, and strengthening cooperation across the publishing value chain./.