Last year Vietnam ranked 91st out of 192 United Nations member countries in terms of the e-government readiness index, up by 14 places against 2005. This was Vietnam’s highest ranking since the UN started to calculate this kind of index of its member countries. This was also a remarkable improvement given that the Philippines plunged 25 places and Thailand, Singapore and Myanmar all fell 16 places in the rankings.

The fact is that the concept of e-government was formulated in Vietnam in 2000-2001 while the model was being developed in the Republic of Korea and Singapore where nearly 80 percent of all transactions between the administration and its citizens were conducted online. Several years later, Vietnam was included in the list of 100 countries that had taken great strides in applying information technology to administrative reform.

However, Vietnam will have to do more to keep up with regional IT development levels. In the Republic of Korea and Singapore, for instance, no matter where a citizen lives, he or she can complete the registration form for a new business provided that his/her personal data is updated on the computer of any State agency. This means that all the data stored at State agencies is accessible and can be retrieved at anytime. Several countries have even completed a database on their citizens so that when a citizen makes a request at any online portal, his/her request is automatically sent to the agency concerned.

To develop such a model in Vietnam, the whole process of settling issues must be clear-cut and computerised to ensure all the data is accessible at all times. Vietnam has nearly 20 million Internet users and this means that nearly 20 million citizens have the opportunity to complete their administrative procedures online.

E-government has long been a goal for all the State agencies to bring about a lot of changes to the system as well as to personnel planning. First and foremost, it requires the openness and transparency of the whole process of settling administrative procedures.

However, it is not that easy a task because a number of State employees are bureaucratic while older employees shun all forms of applying new technologies.

According to the latest statistics, most ministries, sectors, provinces and cities have used their e-portals or websites to establish communications between themselves, the public and businesses. However, these portals and websites simply serve as one-way channels of information that only provide a few public services inaccessible for people living in rural and remote areas.

There are fears that Vietnam’s e-government project will be slow off the mark because the country has a small number of e-citizens. But they are unfounded given the burgeoning growth of the country’s telecoms and Internet infrastructure. Once citizens have computers connected to the Internet at home or have a nearby Internet kiosk, they will not have to go to the district or provincial People’s Committees to have their administrative procedures cleared.

No doubt, a new service like e-government is difficult to develop at first, but it can be done if the leaders of the ministries and agencies stiffen their resolve. Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai usually received updates of information and even gave instructions via the Internet when he was Minister of Industry. This requires deputy ministers, heads of ministerial departments and senior specialists to acquire information technology skills so they can report to the minister. Currently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade takes the lead in providing online services to businesses and the public.

According to Nguyen Thanh Phuc, head of the Information Technology Application Department under the Ministry of Information and Communications, Vietnam will finalise its e-government model by 2010, under which e-documents will replace paperwork and the heads of State agencies can have online exchanges with the public.