Vietnam eyes rise in global e-governance index

The Ministry of Information and Communications said in an order on Thursday that it would help other government agencies and local administrations improve their e-governance.

It hopes to develop e-government in a manner that people can avail government's services and information anytime and anywhere they need.

It also aims to develop a digital government and digital economy based on open data.

In the biennial E-Government Development Index (EGDI), last year Vietnam ranked 88th out of 193 governments with a score of 0.59, its highest ever and consistently rising.

In the 2018 index, Singapore led the region with 0.88 followed by Malaysia with 0.71 and Brunei with 0.69. Thailand and the Philippines shared third position with 0.65, followed by Vietnam with 0.59.

The EGDI presents the state of e-government development of countries. Along with an assessment of the website development patterns in a country, it incorporates access characteristics such as infrastructure and educational levels to reflect how a country is using information technologies to promote access and inclusion of its people.

It is a composite measure of three important dimensions of e-government: provision of online services, telecommunication connectivity and human capacity.

Speaking at a meeting on e-governance in June Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said while ushering in e-governance is a "new and difficult" problem related agencies should not allow financial difficulties and obstacles in connecting and sharing data to halt the process.

For years there have been complaints from the public and investors that it takes too long to complete administrative procedures and involves too much paperwork.

Official data shows that it can take up to 218 hours and cost VND64.1 million ($2,700) to complete a single administrative procedure.