United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Acting Việt Nam Mission Director Bradley Bessire (left) and Việt Nam's Office of the Government (OOG) Chairman Mai Tiến Dũng exchanged Memorandum of Understanding on the development of a strategic framework agreement for the Việt Nam E-Government Capacity Building programme in a ceremony held Tuesday in Hà Nội. — Photo courtesy of the US Embassy in Việt Nam

HÀ NỘI — The Việt Nam Government’s Office and the U.S. Agency for International Development on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a strategic framework agreement for the Việt Nam E-Government Capacity Building programme. 

Speaking at the ceremony, Minister and Government Office Chairman Mai Tiến Dũng said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was an important document demonstrating the efforts and strong commitment of both governments to co-operate in the fields of e-government development and administrative reform.

“The signing takes place on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of ties between Việt Nam and the US. We’re setting a positive path for co-operation between the two sides,” Dũng said.

Through the MoU, USAID will help the Government Office to accelerate administrative reforms, enhance national inter-agency co-ordination and transparency, and further develop its e-government platform – the National Public Service Portal – which will improve access to information, benefitting both citizens and businesses.

The Government had responded quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic by launching innovative digital tools to share information, perform contact-tracing, and provide healthcare services, Dũng said.

In recent years, the Government office has been building and putting into operation important information systems as a foundation for e-Government development in Việt Nam including the  National e-Document Exchange Platform, an  information system for the Government sessions (e-cabinet) platform.

During the signing ceremony, Ambassador Kritenbrink said: “The MoU signed today demonstrates the continued close cooperation between the United States and Việt Nam and reinforces the US Government’s commitment to support Việt Nam’s efforts to modernise public administration, administrative reform and e-government development.”

USAID assistance for the project will have four main components: Updating and implementing regulations related to online public service delivery and processing; organisational change management to improve service delivery and communications plans to strengthen the National Public Service Portal; improving business processes, interface design, and user experience on the National Public Service Portal; and business process re-engineering support for one-stop shops, focusing on the digitalisation of administrative procedure and access to digitised results via the National Public Service Portal.

Over the past 15 years, USAID has been working closely with Việt Nam to strengthen the ability of local enterprises to scale up operations, improve the business enabling environment, train emerging leaders, reduce the time and cost of trade, and enhance national and provincial legal and regulatory frameworks to drive private sector growth. — VNS