NGUYỄN TẤN DŨNG
PRIME MINISTER OF
THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIỆT NAM
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SPEECH DELIVERED BY H.E. PRIME MINISTER NGUYỄN TẤN DŨNG

AT THE LAUNCHING CEREMONY OF THE NEW INTERFACE OF

THE VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT WEB PORTAL

Hà Nội, October 10 2009

Comrades and friends.

Today, I am glad to attend the launching ceremony of the new interface of the Vietnamese Government Web Portal (VGP). This event not only reflects the maturity of VGP but also signals a new step forward in the e-Government development, together with the upcoming announcement of the Government’s set of administrative procedures, making a significant contribution to administrative reforms in Việt Nam. On behalf of the Government, I warmly congratulate VGP, Office of Government, comrades and distinguished guests. It is all of you, those have been cooperating with VGP since its establishment, who help to make up this important event.

Comrades and friends,

In recent years, the vigorous development of information technology, communications and many other high technologies have been leading to big economic, political, cultural and social changes throughout the world. The ICT application and development has helped to liberate the whole society’s physical strengths, intelligence and spirit, promoting socio-economic development, and bettering living standard of each and every citizen.

Our Party and State always consider ICT as one of important scientific and technical means and a keynote economic industry which serves the realization of millennium development goals, the construction of an information society, and the acceleration of national industrialization and modernization. For years, the Government has issued many mechanisms and policies as well as mobilized resources for ICT development. The boom of Internet, websites and web portals has considerably contributed to the transmission of information resources between State agencies and the society, improving the quality of the socio-economic system, bettering people’s material and spiritual life, sustaining growth rate and speeding Việt Nam’s integration into the world.

In such a context, the birth of the Government Website, now VGP, met an inevitable requirement of the life and the cause of national development in a new era. I am very pleased and highly appreciate the development of the former Government Website and the VGP at present. For nearly 4 years of construction and development, VGP has made many meaningful deeds for the Government, people and the country. VGP has become the Government’s formal channel of information on the Internet, effectively serving the Government and the Prime Minister’s performance, bringing about greater convenience for different walks of life and the business community, forming an online bridge between the Government and people. The new interface of VGP and its component websites, including the Geographic Information System, Government Online Newspaper (VGP News) and the Thăng Long-Hà Nội’s 1000^th anniversary website, were built on a sufficient legal basis. According to comments of leaders of some ministries, agencies and ICT experts, VGP has a new solemn interface which is suitable to the Portal’s specific characteristics. With up-to-date technological solutions, good-looking interface and abundant contents, VGP can be an exemplary web portal for other ministerial, sectoral and local ones. On the occasion, on behalf of the Government, I hail the Office of Government, managers and staff of VGP, ICT partner enterprises and companies for their efforts in successfully building up the VGP interface so that we can present here in this meaningful ceremony.

At present, we are designing the Accelerative Strategy under which we will convert Việt Nam into a powerful IT country. A very important task is to speed up the IT application and development in Party, State organs and socio-economic sectors. I would like to take this occasion to request the Office of Government and VGP, right after this ceremony, (i) to closely work with the Ministry of Information and Communications and other relevant agencies and localities in drastically taking follow-up steps in order to create quality and efficiency breakthroughs in VGP’s performance, focusing on perfecting VGP’s organizational apparatus to meet requirements and tasks in the new stage of development; (ii) to put into reality Decision 83/2008/QĐ-TTg. Technologically, VGP must quickly link websites and web portals of State agencies, economic groups and corporations. It also needs to integrate administrative and public service information of the Government on the Internet in order to serve people and accelerate administrative reforms in the new stage of national socio-economic development.

I am very glad to hear that, on October 6, some international research organizations, namely the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and the Business Software Alliance (BSA), unveiled the IT Competitiveness Index 2009. Accordingly, Việt Nam ranks the 56th, jumping over five levels compared to 2008. However, I want to point out that we are still standing in the bottom group of countries in terms of transmission speed and Internet connection. Thus, it requires a high political determination and high consensus of the entire political system to accelerate IT application and development in general and to develop websites and web portals of State agencies in particular in Việt Nam. Apart from the State which plays an important role in creating a favorable environment for IT application and development, it is necessary to have close cooperation among managers, scientists, enterprises and the whole-hearted support of people from all walks of life, who are beneficiaries and also factors to promote the IT application and development in State management and daily life, especially in 10 years when it is those who are mastering IT and Internet in studying, working, building and protecting the motherland will become masters of this country.

Comrades and friends.

In this spirit, I solemnly announce the debut of the new VGP interface.

Wish VGP to further develop as the motive force for the system of websites and web portals of State agencies.

I wish all of you good health and happiness.