VIETNAM TO BUILD TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR E-COMMERCE

Subject: [vnnews-l] IT: VIETNAM TO BUILD TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR
E-COMMERCE

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Copyright 2003 The Saigon Times Daily
The Saigon Times Daily

February 20, 2003

LENGTH: 303 words
HEADLINE: VIETNAM TO BUILD TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR E-COMMERCE
BYLINE: Lan Anh
BODY:
(SGT-HCMC) The Ministry of Trade is drafting an e-commerce development
project designed to set up at least three electronic trading floors to
boost trading over the Internet, a ministry official said.
About US $ 12 million will be used to build a network of technical
infrastructure in Hanoi, Danang and HCMC, and e-commerce promotion
centers in other provinces, Nguyen Huu Anh, deputy head of the
ministry's E-commerce and Information Technology Department.
"Basically we will open an electronic market with all the necessary
facilities for companies to join and do business," Anh told the Daily.
"E-commerce promotion centers will provide businesses with information
they need."
An initial draft of the project has been submitted to the Ministry of
Planing and Investment for approval.
The project is expected to be kicked off in the first quarter of 2004,
Anh said, adding the ministry would choose Hanoi as the experimental
place to build the first electronic trading floor.
The project is part of a national scheme to develop information
technology, which includes four big programs and 13 projects, approved
by the Government in July 2002.
Other 12 projects will be implemented by Government agencies, such as
the ministries of Finance, Agriculture and Rural Development, and
Education, and the General Department of Customs.
An ordinance on e-commerce is also expected to be approved by the
Standing Committee of the National Assembly by 2004.
At present, e-commerce is rated by experts as underdeveloped partly
due to the lack of regulations on e-signature and online payment
regulations in the country.
As Vietnam encourages Internet industry growth with tax breaks and
other IT-friendly policies, e-payment has become a popular tool of
business transactions in recent years.
JOURNAL-CODE: FSGT