A new, significant bridge is currently and rapidly under development in the remote mountains of Northwest Vietnam. It will change the landscape of the communities there – and the business community in particular. It’s for people like Ma Thi Luyen, an ethnic minority women entrepreneur who runs a business on processed pork products. But this bridge isn’t for helping her travel between steep mountain passes; it’s for closing the digital chasm that has kept her and thousands like her from accessing critical value chain suppliers, customers and clients, skills and information, business service providers and expand the platforms in which she can conduct business.

For years, Luyen’s reach was limited to the customers she could meet in person. Today, she sits with family, children and colleagues who help manage online orders and digital content. By embracing digital tools, Luyen has both grown her business and transformed her household into a collaborative supportive team where work is shared, and where she is taking a new role within the family as a savvy business leader and breadwinner.

Isolated peaks and digital chasms

Ethnic minority women in Lao Cai and Son La provinces face a unique set of interconnected barriers that make traditional business growth nearly impossible. Living in remote, mountainous areas, ethnic minority women are not only often physically isolated from major markets but also face a “digital mindset” gap–a lack of the specific skills and capabilities needed to navigate a rapidly evolving digital economy. Socio-cultural norms often dictate that women carry the primary responsibility for household duties and childcare, leaving little time for business expansion. Compounded by language barriers and limited access to formal business training, many women-led micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) find themselves excluded from the modern marketplace.

Turning up, keeping up and picking up

The GREAT program’s “Inclusive Digital Acceleration Program” (IDAP) project recognises the particular challenges faced by ethnic minority women living and working in remote and rural locations. Rather than providing generic IT support, the project built a localised support ecosystem connecting MSMEs with technical and human resources service providers as well as businesses providing technology solutions, gradually forming a digital transformation support network tailored to the specific needs of ethnic minority women.

This included tailored capacity building in local language, using non-jargonistic terminology, flexible learning formats, inclusive gender and disability responsive facilitation, plenty of practical digital skills demonstrations, and ensuring training at convenient women-friendly scheduling. GREAT’s support enabled 112 women-led MSMEs in Son La and 141 in Lao Cai to turn up, keep up and pick up real-world digital skills that they could directly apply for their businesses.

Furthermore, project mentors provided one-on-one coaching on applying digital tools such as Facebook, Zalo, e-commerce platforms, and Online Travel Agency (OTA) booking sites directly to business operations. Not only did this mentoring help ethnic minority women entrepreneurs directly in their business, but it also built a network of digital mentors as the women on-trained other entrepreneurs or became digital service providers in their own right.

This market systems development approach was further advanced through a unique Student-Enterprise Collaboration model paired university students from Tay Bac and Thai Nguyen Universities with ethnic minority women entrepreneurs. The students provided hands-on technical support, helping women in setting up and operating online sales channels, managing digital content, and solving practical challenges when applying digital tools in their businesses.

A transformation of business and self

The integration of digital services has triggered a flow-over effect of change across economic and social spheres. Enterprises have transitioned from merely “being online” to generating active digital revenue streams. By mastering digital tools, women can now self-diagnose business issues and apply technologies to improve product quality, production productivity, and human resource management. They no longer rely on local middlemen but can reach a national audience directly. In Lao Cai, Ms. Vang Thi Moi, a digital service provider with a disability has proactively expanded her digitalisation services, while others like Ms. Vang Thi Nghia have voluntarily invested in their own training to become digital-savvy homestay guides.

This business confidence has consequently flowed over to self-confidence and agency. As women’s businesses become more profitable and professional through digital tools, they are gaining increased support from the men in their lives, elevating their social status within the home. One example of this is Vang Thi Mai, who was able to better delegate business operational responsibilities and proactively taught her father Vietnamese so he could assist in welcoming and serving customers.

By fostering a “digital mindset” and strengthening the local ecosystem, the GREAT program is ensuring that the remote mountains of Lao Cai and Son La are no longer boundaries, but launchpads. Through digital bridges, ethnic minority women are overcoming geographic isolation to claim their rightful place in Vietnam’s dynamic digital economy, proving that sustainable growth begins with inclusive empowerment.