(VOVWORLD) - Vietnam has made progress in its campaign to build an e-government. As a result, the performance of state agencies in providing services to the public and bsinesse enterprises has improved.
Building an e-government means building an electronic system connecting all government e-documents and data from the central to the provincial and communal level, providing all public services online, and developing a single public service portal on the internet.
According to an e-government survey conducted in 2016 by the United Nations, Vietnam ranked 89th of 193 countries and territories on the e-government development index (EGDI), up ten places from 2014. Vietnam ranked 6th in ASEAN and 4th in Southeast Asia.
Documents connected through IT
After 2 years of implementing government Decree 36a on e-government, ministries, sectors, provinces and cities are using IT for management activities, promulgating legal documents, and providing information on administrative procedures. Many ministries, sectors and localities have developed software to connect documents from the central to the local level. This is the first time Vietnam has had an e-document management system, a prerequisite for accelerating administrative reform.
Ministries, sectors, and localities have given the public access to document processing on the government’s e-portal.
Minister of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung said: “In August, the labor sector will launch its e-government system from the central to the local level. The system will cover social insurance, support for social beneficiaries, labor market information, vocational training, wages, and child protection.”
Strengthening e-public services
One of the aims of building an e-government is to improve public services. Ministries and sectors have brought 78 of 83 public services online, which has facilitated administrative procedures, modernized transaction, ensured transparency, and contributed to administrative reform.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development recently launched its portal that provides online public services for agriculture. Ho Chi Minh City has asked local departments, sectors, and its 24 districts put 300 public services online. The one-stop-shop and e-public service system in Lam Dong province covers two-thirds of its 1500 administrative procedures, making Lam Dong the leading province in e-government development.
Chairman of the Hanoi Municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung elaborated on the city’s efforts: “Hanoi has provided e-public services in 30 districts and 584 communes and wards. The city now has 391 e-public services which cover 20% of its total administrative procedures. We hope to raise that to 55% by the end of this year. The rate of available e-public services is 90% in the justice sector, 70% in business registration, and 100% in customs. “
Building an e-government in inevitable to increase the transparency of state agencies and provide better services to the people and enterprises.