According to the announcement, there have been improvements in providing public services in Vietnam. By the end of the third quarter of 2019, 1,720 services of level 3 and 2 were offered online at ministries and State agencies. New applications submitted online accounted for 47.7 per cent, the numbers at provincial agencies stood at 46,600 and 17.3 per cent, respectively. However, the number of online public services has remained low, while the provision of services has been inefficient.

The launching of the national public service portal was an important milestone in building the e-Government, creating a connection between the Government and State agencies with citizens and enterprises to enhance transparency, reduce corruption and create favourable conditions for investing and doing business. The portal demonstrates the Government’s determination in accelerating effective and productive e-Government.

To ensure the performance of the national public service portal, Prime Minister tasked leaders of ministries, State agencies and departments to deploy, connect and share their data to simplify administrative procedures, upgrade their own websites to connect and integrate with the national public service portal, improve public services before offering them via the portal and promote electronic payment.

The Prime Minister also urged to skill up the labour force.

The Ministry of Information and Communication was tasked to coordinate and collaborate with the Government Office, ministries, State agencies and local authorities to review, assess their data systems and come up with a plan to integrate these systems, evaluate the effectiveness of using online public services nationwide, identify challenges to enhance and promote the use of online public services.

The Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Information and Communications to file the draft decree on identification and electronic authentication, the Ministry of Public Security to file the decree on personal data protection and the Government Office to file the decree on the implementation of administrative procedures on online platforms by January 2020.

These ministries have to ensure the portal’s stable operation to satisfy rising demands of people and enterprises, at the same time, tighten cyber and data security.

The Ministry of Information and Communications takes main responsibility in developing the e-Government and monitoring its performances, cooperate with Ministry of Public Security, Government Cipher Committee and Government Office to ensure cyber security and prevent data breaches.