Impacts of the fourth industrial revolution on governments, businesses and people were highlighted by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc when he attended a session as part of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

The session on January 20 morning (local time) focused on the governance in the fourth industrial revolution.

PM Phuc said governments should fine-tune institutions, regulations and policies to meet the development requirements brought about by the fourth industrial revolution. They also need to make use of the revolution’s opportunities to solve global issues such as developing new energy sources, water resources security, sustainable organic agriculture, and responding to natural disasters, epidemics and climate change.

Vietnam is pushing forward with start-up and innovation facilitation policies, obstacle removal, IT application and e-Government building, he noted.

At a meeting with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, PM Phuc said the two countries should enhance cooperation in economics, trade, education-training, science-technology and culture. He asked Ukraine to continue providing favourable conditions for Vietnamese people in the country who in turn will help to reinforce bilateral ties.

President Poroshenko said the countries’ time-honoured relations need to be strengthened, adding that there remain huge cooperation potential and Ukraine is willing to boost partnership in such spheres as economics, trade, tourism and defence.

Meanwhile, the Vietnamese leader spoke highly of Standard Chartered’s operations in Vietnam while meeting with the bank’s Chairman Jose Vinals. He asked the firm to share experience with and assist commercial banks of Vietnam to expand operations in global markets.

Vinals said Standard Chartered pledges long-term presence in the Southeast Asian nation and will help the country develop financial and banking systems, attract investment and access international sources of capital.

At another meeting with Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, PM Phuc called on Facebook to foster cooperation in IT development in Vietnam, particularly in promoting start-ups and assisting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to access information and expand operations via social networks. 

He also invited Facebook representatives to attend the APEC CEO Summit, slated for this November in Vietnam.

For her part, Sandberg noted Facebook is working closely with Vietnam in image promotion projects to ensure the success of APEC Vietnam 2017. She also underlined her wish to help SMEs to do business via Facebook, adding that the social network is coordinating with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to carry out assistance. About 78 percent of Vietnam’s SMEs are using Facebook’s services for business activities.

Also on January 20, the Government leader of Vietnam met President of CNN International Commercial Rani R. Raad, welcoming CNN as well as other foreign media outlets coming to Vietnam to report on the country’s situation and popularise image of its land and people. The country is also open to CNN and international media to report on important APEC activities in 2017.

Raad said CNN attaches importance to relations with Vietnam, noting that its cooperation with Vietnamese ministries, sectors and localities is growing. 

He affirmed more and more information about the country will be presented on the channels, websites and fan pages of CNN, which also wants to update APEC activities in Vietnam this year.

VNA