There are up to 58% of Vietnamese using the Internet with an average using duration of 16 hours per week, according to a survey of Nielsen Vietnam on Internet use in four recent weeks.

Meanwhile, the rate is 19% in Indonesia, 67% in Singapore, 38% in Malaysia and 31% in Thailand.

Speaking at a recent meeting with the Ministry of Information and Technology, Vaughan Ryan, general director of Nielsen Vietnam, said that the Internet penetration rate in Vietnam was high due to its young population who loved new technology and online interaction.

The survey indicates that many people spend up to 31 hours to surf Facebook and other social networking sites on laptops, computers and smartphones. Many companies have banned their employees from using social networking sites during working hours, but Nielsen Vietnam says this tendency should be encouraged as its boost interaction among people in a modern way.

According to Nielsen Vietnam, social networking sites help connect consumers with companies and brands, and there are up to 79% of Vietnamese users joining fanpages of companies and brands on Facebook. Therefore, it can promote loyalty, supports and sales of companies.