VietNamNet Bridge – The Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has officially launched the Viet Nam Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Awards 2008 that will be announced in early 2009.

The first-ever national ICT awards in the country, which will become an annual affair, will be granted to IT companies that produce high quality products, solutions and services that help raise the competitiveness Vietnam' + char(39)+ N's economy.

Tran Duc Lai, deputy minister of MIC, and head of the organising board of Viet Nam ICT Awards 2008, said: "The granting of the awards will be based on specific criteria which have been established overtly, objectively and logically. With these criteria, the awards aim to best recognise the contributions of organisations and enterprises in the development of Vietnam' + char(39)+ N's ICT industries."

Lai said the organisers were preparing to conduct a poll to collect opinions and ideas from organisations, enterprises and experts in ICT area and to obtain public comments on the evaluating criteria.

He added ICT Awards were held on a non-profit principle.

The representatives of Viet Nam Postal and Telecommunication Corp., Intel Viet Nam, IBM Viet Nam and Cisco Viet Nam have signed an agreement that commits them to the selection, evaluation and awarding of Viet Nam ICT Awards. The list of winners will be announced by MIC in early 2009.