Vietnam, US boost ICT cooperation

Minister of Information and Communications (MIC) Le Doan Hop paid a working visit to the US from June 9-14 to boost bilateral cooperation and trade in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector.

Illustration photo (Source: Internet)

The MIC minister has held working sessions with the US Department of Commerce (DOC), the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and the World Bank (WB).

At the working session with the DOC, the two sides highly valued the bilateral cooperation in the ICT sector over the past time, especially activities through the Vietnam-US ICT Commercial Dialogue. While encouraging US businesses to continue cooperation and expand investment in Vietnam "s ICT sector, Minister Hop asked the DOC and US businesses create conditions for Vietnamese ICT companies to invest and do business in the US .

He also asked for the DOC’s support for a MIC-run project to develop Vietnam into an IT power with special attention to be paid to cooperation in improving the legal environment, modernizing information infrastructure, developing IT and speeding up the application of e-government.

In meeting with the USTDA Director, Hop applauded the USTDA assistance for the MIC and spoke highly of the organization’s bridging role in promoting US businesses’ investment in Vietnam .

He expressed his wish that USTDA will create conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to access and establish cooperation with US partners in the ICT sector, thus strengthening bilateral trade between the two countries.

At the meeting with WB Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific Jim Adams, the Vietnamese minister thanked the WB for its active support and assistance for Vietnam ’s socio-economic development and poverty reduction.

He praised the WB’s ICT development programme in Vietnam , saying that it has helped boost the ICT application and e-government in Vietnam in the years to come.

The WB Vice President spoke highly of Vietnam ’s efforts in implementing e-government projects and vowed to provide continued support for Vietnam ’s following projects.

On the occasion, the MIC delegation, in collaboration with Vietnamese businesses, the DOC, and the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC), organised a meeting of the Vietnam-US ICT Commercial Dialogue and a trade promotion seminar which looked at ways for Vietnamese businesses to access the US ’s potential ICT market.

Earlier, Minister Hop and his entourage visited the Standford and San Jose State Universities in California State and several large ICT businesses such as IBM, Cisco and Sigma Design.

On the occasion, the Vsilicon company under the Vietnam Multimedia Communications Corporation (VTC) signed MoUs with Sigma Design and Oracle on cooperation in developing hi-tech solutions and standards for television in Vietnam./.