Minister Đinh Tiến Dũng (centre) and others participants kick off the launching ceremony. of the national open budget portal.  — Tapchitaichinh.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Finance (MoF) launched the open portal for state budget at https://ckns.mof.gov.vn in Hà Nội on Wednesday.

Minister Đinh Tiến Dũng, Swiss Ambassador Ivo Sieber, the World Bank's Operations Manager Stefanie Stallmeister and Canadian Embassy's Acting Head of Cooperation Nina Seahra kicked off the launching ceremony.

According to the MoF, the portal will have positive impacts on the activities of the state budget, especially in publishing the budget openly for people.

The portal was developed by the MoF under the AAA Programme that was co-financed and commissioned by the Swiss Government and the Government of Canada through the World Bank since 2016.

It was built on the basis of reference to cutting-edge models from around the world and the local requirements for budget transparency and publicity, as the next step in the Government's and the MoF's commitment to transparency and accountability in the supplement, management and use of public resources.

MoF said the portal will help synthesise public budget reports faster and more accurately, adding it was also a tool that monitors the public implementation of ministries, central and local agencies in Việt Nam.

As a result, the public budget reports of ministries, central and local agencies will become simpler and more convenient while it will also be a communication channel that provides the data and information needed to help citizens, businesses, researchers and organisations at home and abroad to grasp issues related to finance and banking as well as the national policy in the country.

Stallmeister said: “The portal will improve the openness, transparency and efficiency of the national budget while contributing to strengthening macroeconomic management, risk awareness and accountability in public service,” adding access to budget information was important not only at all levels of government, but also for all citizens and businesses.

Swiss Ambassador Ivo Sieber said: “The COVID pandemic's fall out confronting governments all over the world with difficult fiscal and budgeting decisions underscores the importance of prompt and concerted actions. Such action can only be defined and implemented with timely and adequate information. This new E-Portal is a tool that will serve ministries and the public in Vietnam beyond the COVID crisis."

Minister Dũng said: “The portal was launched to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the financial sector of Việt Nam. It showed the administrative reform effort of MoF, which is gradually replacing paper reports with electronic reports.” — VNS