Vietnam will host the Asia Pacific IT Alliance (APICTA) Awards in 2019, said Minister of Information and Communication Truong Minh Tuan on May 14.

At the working session between the Ministry of Information and Communication and a delegation from the APICTA.

In a meeting with a delegation from the APICTA led by Chairman Stan Singh, Minister Tuan stressed that hosting the event will allow Vietnam to popularise its IT and communication development and introduce Vietnamese images, people and economic potential to international friends.

He said the Ministry of Information and Communication supports the Vietnam Software and IT Service Association (VINASA) to join the APICTA while encouraging other IT and communication associations and businesses’ involvement in the APICTA’s activities.

According to the e-government survey 2016 conducted by the United Nations, Vietnam was ranked 89th out of 193 countries and territories worldwide and sixth among Southeast Asian nations in the e-government development index.

Seeing IT as a basis for economic development, the Vietnamese Government has used special policies to lure investment in software production and IT product manufacturing, software services and digital products, he said. 

Tuan underlined that the development and application of IT has been implemented to improve the business climate, national competitive capacity, e-government and to build smart urban areas.

The APICTA is an alliance of national IT organisations representing their respective economy to build, enhance a network to promote IT, promote technology innovations, capability and adoption and encourage the development of indigenous IT solutions to the global market.

APICTA’s 16 member-economies include Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, Macao (China), Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan (China) and Vietnam.

In 2016, Vietnam participated in the APICTA. The VINASA brought the best Vietnamese IT products and services to the APICTA awards two years ago.

The APICTA 2018 awards will be held in China’s Guangzhou province in October.-VNA