VietNamNet Bridge – HCMCity saved more than VND180 million (nearly $9,000) in two months thanks tosending invitation letters in the form of email and text messages.

HCM city government meeting on administrative reform on Wednesday

At the city government meeting on administrative reform on Wednesday, Mr. Vo Sy, Deputy Director ofthe Office of the HCM City People's Committee, said the people’s committeebegan placing paper invitation letters and attached documents via email andtext messages on July 20^th. Previously, the people’s committee had usedpaper letters of invitation, accompanied with documents.

Thanks to the change,from July 20^th to September 20^th, the people’s committee saved over VND180 million from paper, ink andpostal charges.

The office of the HCM City People’s Committeepreviously had to spend VND94 million for printing and sending invitationletters to meetings and accompanying documents each month. By using email andSMS, the office can save over VND1 billion a year ($50,000).

"In the near future,HCM City must stop the use of paper documents and turn to e-documents to meetthe need of building the e-government and smart city in the city," said HCM City’s Vice Chair Tran Vinh Tuyen.

Tuyen said HCM City plans to have a paper-free administration, digitising all documents in Government offices to streamline administrative procedures and reduce costs.

“The use of e-documents in the near future is appropriate for online public services. It would also facilitate the introduction of e-governance,” he stressed.

He instructed districts to expand their online services to serve the public faster and more efficiently.

The use of IT at State administrative agencies is crucial to simplifying procedures and developing HCM City into a smart city, he said.

Tran Cham