HÀ NỘI — New features in the amended Law on Electronic Transactions represents a crucial milestone in boosting electronic trading activities, said experts.

The amended Law, which was passed by the National Assembly on Thursday by a vote of 468 to 477, includes eight chapters and 53 articles and will take effect from July 1, 2024.

The revised Law adds provisions on the validity of the conversion between paper and electronic forms, and regulations on electronic certificates. It also expands the scope of the law.

Moreover, it prohibits activities that take advantage of electronic transactions to infringe upon national interests, ethnic groups, national security, social order and safety, public interests, and the lawful rights and interests of agencies, organisations, and individuals.

Illegal actions to hinder or prevent the process of creating, sending, receiving, or storing data messages or engaging in other acts to sabotage the information system serving electronic transactions are also forbidden.

"The expansion of the scope of the Law will help cut costs compared to traditional transactions," Vương Quốc Thắng, member of the Science, Technology, and Environment Committee of the National Assembly, told baodautu.vn.

"State agencies perform an average of 600,000 transactions on administrative procedures a day. If these transactions are done in electronic form by default, it is estimated to save at least VNĐ9 trillion (US$383 million) per year."

Đậu Anh Tuấn, Deputy General Secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) cum Director General of the VCCI's Legal Department said that the revised Law on Electronic Transactions impacts all activities of social life, saving more money than traditional transactions, creating breakthroughs, and bringing greater efficiency.

"It will save a lot on transaction fees, as the parties in the transaction are not required to meet face-to-face to complete the transaction. Transaction times are short since parties may conduct transactions from anywhere using electronic devices," Tuấn explained.

The amended Law also added regulations on the use and recognition of foreign electronic signatures, helping to reduce cross-border transaction expenses for firms and individuals and promoting international electronic transactions.

In addition, it includes regulations on databases, data sharing, and connections between state agencies.

The amended Law stipulates that data messages are used and have the same validity as the original if the information in the data message is guaranteed to be intact since it is first initialised. 

If the revised regulations are successfully implemented, administrative procedures will be much simpler.

Digital economy and transformation promotion

The Director General of the VCCI’s Legal Department said that the amended law, once in effect, will have a widespread impact on activities in the electronic environment of state agencies, individuals, and enterprises.

Electronic transaction execution mechanisms that are clearly defined would assure the validity of electronic transactions, offering a full legal corridor for the transformation of activities from the physical to the digital across all industries.

Meanwhile, in the National Strategy for Development of the Digital Economy and Society to 2025, the Prime Minister set a target for the percentage of the adult population using digital signatures or personal electronic signatures to reach over 50 per cent by 2025 and 70 per cent by 2030.

The strategy also identifies the deployment of remote digital signatures in the direction of prioritising the universalisation of the use of personal digital signatures for citizens in a simple, convenient, and secure way. 

As a result, the revised Law will help successfully implement the national digital transformation strategy.

Personal digital signatures aid in the settlement of all electronic transactions that need the authentication of the user's identity, according to Vũ Ngọc Sơn, Technical Director of NCS Company, so this will be an indispensable component in the development of the digital economy. 

The universalisation of personal digital signatures will help solve all administrative procedures through the internet, shorten the time for processing documents, reduce administrative costs, and improve the efficiency and transparency of online transactions.

Personal digital signatures can also be applied to replace authentication with OTP codes in banking and financial transactions with higher security, he added.

"If every citizen has a digital identity and a digital signature, we will gradually move towards a paperless society. Most of the procedures can be done online while still ensuring the same reliability as printed documents. It will be a revolution in digital transformation for everyone," said Sơn. — VNS