In a bid to create a healthy networking atmosphere in the country, the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) has completed a code of conduct on social networks for internet service providers and users, said Minister Nguyen Manh Hung.

The latest report issued by social media marketing firm We are Social showed that roughly 55 million Vietnamese people (57 percent) use social media.

He said at a meeting on November 6 that the ministry has plans to prevent the spread of negative content on the internet and social media.

The MIC would also create favourable conditions for the development of the country’s digital content ecosystem, fulfilling the target that users of social media platforms developed by Vietnamese companies account for 50 per cent of the total social media users by 2020, he said.

The minister requested agencies and enterprises under his leadership to include expenses for information technology in their State budget estimations and speed up the building of e-government.

Agencies were asked to submit a policy on collecting fees from foreign media organisations in Vietnam to fund information technology development, he said, adding that it would be about two percent for enterprises with turnover of 1 trillion VND (42.7 million USD).

The ministry will focus on setting up a National Innovation System, building the 4.0 Innovation Centre in Vietnam as well as developing Vietnamese technology enterprises which contribute to the increase of labor productivity in all fields.  It will also concentrate resources on the development of cyber security.

"Cyber security is considered a precondition for the development of e-government, digital government and the digital content industry,” he told toquoc.vn. “Vietnam must become a cyber security power.”

The MIC will also work with the State of Bank to find solutions for payments to businesses providing digital content services. The Ministry’s point of view is that telecommunications accounts should be used to pay for other kinds of goods valued at less than 2 million VND (85 USD).

Hung also instructed agencies and units under the MIC to focus on improving the national ranking.

Vietnam is ranked at 100 out of 193 countries all over world in information and technology sector while the country’s rankings in communications, cyber security and human resources in information and technology are still low. Therefore, it is necessary to have a concrete plan so Vietnam can move its ranking up to between 30 and 50 by 2020, he said.

The latest report issued in January this year by We are Social, a social media marketing and advertising agency, showed around 55 million Vietnamese people, or 57 percent of the population, use social media. 64 million are online.-VNS