Vietnam has been ranked 89th out of 193 countries and territories in the e-government development index (EGDI) in 2016, up ten places compared to two years ago, according to the e-government survey 2016 conducted by the United Nations.

In Southeast Asia, Vietnam’s EGDI is ranked sixth, with Singapore being the highest regionally and ranking fourth globally. Malaysia ranked 60th globally, the Philippines 77th, Brunei 83rd, Indonesia 116th, Laos 148th, Cambodia 158th, Timor Leste 160th, and Myanmar 169th.  

In the e-participation index, Vietnam ranked joint 43rd with Luxemburg and Bulgaria and became a newcomer to the Top 50, which contains a diverse group of upper and lower middle income countries. Other newcomers included Bulgaria, Mauritius, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan.

Remarkably, Vietnam, along with nine other countries (the Bahamas, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lebanon, the Philippines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Africa, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uzbekistan) improved its e-government performance and made the leap from middle EGDI to high EGDI, the report noted.

Three other countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Egypt and Fiji) dropped from high EGDI to medium EGDI, and the number of countries with high EGDI increased to 65 in 2016, up from 62 in 2014.

In the Telecommunications Infrastructure Index, there are five indicators: estimated internet users per 100 inhabitants, number of main fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants, number of mobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants, number of fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, and number of wireless broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. In Vietnam these indicators were 48.31, 6.01, 147.11, 6.48, and 21.80, respectively.

Under Resolution No. 36a issued in October 2015, in the 2015-2017 period Vietnam is focusing on administrative reform combined with enhancing the application of information technology in State management and e-public services to reduce the time and cost of completing administrative procedures.

The resolution also states that by the end of 2016 all central State agencies and ministries are to have full e-public services, where users can access online forms and then send their completed forms and other documents to State agencies. All activities related to processing such documents are to be conducted via the internet.  

Cities and provinces nationwide have made efforts to implement e-government under the resolution. In Ho Chi Minh City in July, for example, Deputy Chairman of the city’s People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen directed telecommunications giant FPT to prepare a plan for compiling data on the city’s population, housing, and enterprises.

FPT was also asked to create systems that are convenient for the people, enterprises and State management and that are suitable with the city’s existing information technology infrastructure.

In central Da Nang city, people can now text or call to the Center for Public Service Information to arrange an appointment with an administrative agency rather than going to the agency to do so. At the beginning of this year it opened a website to field complaints from both local residents and tourists. 

VN Economic Times