Hanoi (VNA) - Many information systemsserving as the foundation for e-Government have been put into use recently, andministries, sectors, and localities are pushing ahead with digitaltransformation to further improve service quality for the sake of people andbusinesses.

Building an e-Government towards a digitalGovernment, a digital economy, and a digital society is an inexorable trend.Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc identified the view that e-Governmentdevelopment must ensure the linking of IT applications with administrativereform while improving transparency and centring on people and businesses.

A number of legal documents have been issued inrecent years establishing an important legal corridor for e-Governmentbuilding.

The Government Office has coordinated withministries, sectors, and localities to build the National Public Service Portalinto a hub connecting with other electronic information systems of the country,ministries, and provinces.

The National Public Service Portal is one of thehighlights in e-Government building. The number of public services available hadincreased from eight when it got underway on December 9, 2019 to more than2,800 as of March 8. It had recorded over 468,000 accounts and 116 millionvisits, saving more than 8.1 trillion VND (351 million USD) annually.

Other highlights are the National InformationReporting System and the Government’s information and steering centre, whichhave helped save over 9.9 trillion VND annually (as calculated by using OECDmethodology), according to the Government Office.

The specialised data communications network ofParty and State agencies has also been linked with all ministries, sectors, provinces,and centrally-run cities, along with 98 percent of district-level localitiesnationwide. 

The national database on population was alsounveiled on February 25.

The Ministry of Information and Communicationssaid the most important foundations for e-Government development in Vietnam hadtaken shape by the end of 2020 and initially proven effective.

According to the 2020 UN E-Government Survey,Vietnam ranked 86th among the 193 UN member states in e-Government building, uptwo places against 2018.

Its 6th position in Southeast Asia remainedunchanged while other regional countries saw strong rises.

At a meeting of the National Committee onE-Government on March 10, the Prime Minister urged stronger institutionalbuilding, more online public services, and the implementation of the nationalpopulation database.

He requested that the Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment accelerate the building of a national land database,and that all State agencies complete information safety plans and immediatelycarry out digital transformation strategies and programmes for the newperiod./.