(VOVworld) – Since 2007, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Development Project in Vietnam has established an IT environment and infrastructure in some ministries, sectors, cities, and provinces to be ready for the implementation of an e-government as scheduled. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ operation of the online management system of visa issuance and a Data Centre has illustrated Vietnam’s determination to implement an e-government and reform administrative procedures to serve national economic development.
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| The inauguration of the Foreign Ministry's online management system of visa issuance and a Data Centre |
As public expenditure has become an obsession in the post-crisis period, e-government has become inevitable for all economies. E-government allows simple and fast execution of administrative procedures. People can get easy access to government information with less cost and time. For Vietnam, which has just become a middle-income country, using IT in government activities offers a way to make the government apparatus work more effectively at less cost. It’s a key target of the government’s project to reform administrative procedures.
Project efficiency
In 7 years, the ICT Development Project in Vietnam has made significant progress. It has created an IT infrastructure for the implementation of e-government and partly reformed public administrative services in some ministries, sectors, provinces, and cities.
According to the World Bank, this is one of a few ICT projects funded by the Bank around the work which have been successfully applied to public administration activities. Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank Country Director for Vietnam, says: "An important lesson from first success of this project is the need for leadership commitment which translated into prioritized ICT development strategies and pro-active investment in human resources, both ICT staff and end-users. This is the remarkable achievement even in comparison with many other countries."
In the rapid globalization process, governments joint hands with their citizens and businesses to ensure fair competition. With the old form of management, governments face various difficulties in performing their function. E-government will improve their capacity, with the application of advanced technology, controlling “global risks” and reducing time and space.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has seen visible benefits since applying advanced ICT. Early this year, the Ministry has launched an online visa issuance system inside Vietnam and at 95 overseas diplomatic offices. The system has reduced the time and cost needed to process applications and manage entry and exit procedures. Nguyen Nhu Trung, Deputy Director of the Information Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said: “The Information and Communications Technology Development Project in Vietnam has succeeded. It has established a political platform, human resources, and technical infrastructure with which to implement e-government. The project has helped some ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, build a database center and operate the online visa issuance system.”
Building a modern public administration in line with the integration process
Vietnam’s ICT sector has recorded a rapid growth rate and played an important role in national socio-economic development, administrative reform, and improving business competitiveness, and information access for Vietnamese people in remote areas and overseas.
Vietnam aims to become one of the world’s 70 leading ICT powerhouses by 2020. A high rate of internet users, 40% of the population, and the successful implementation of the ICT Development Project have brought e-government closer to realization in Vietnam.