Vietnam, By 2020, internet subscribers in rural areas will account for...

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved early this year a VND25 trillion (US$1.19 billion) project on rural information and communication development for 2011 to 2012.

The project aims to provide multi-service broadband connection to boost telecommunication infrastructure and services in remote areas of the country.

“By 2020, internet subscribers in rural areas will account for 30-40% of the national average density,” the government said.

In addition, the government plans to supply e-public services to rural areas to enable local residents to raise questions to the authorities and receive answers through e-mail.

The program focuses on setting up a model for public internet services in rural areas and bringing television and radio coverage nationwide starting this year to 2015.

Establishment of public post offices in all remote and poor communities in Vietnam is also a project component.

The project also aims to raise phone coverage to 40 to 50 per cent providing all organisations, businesses and agencies with landline.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information and Communications consulted foreign experts and authorities from 63 cities and provinces this month on rolling out ICT to the country.

“VietNam considers ICT a key industry and one of the most important driving forces for economic development,” said Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hong.

After 20 years of implementing the ICT strategy, the sector has made remarkable progress with an annual growth rate of over 20 per cent. The total revenue of the ICT sector in 2010 reached US$15 billion, achieving an annual growth rate of 25 per cent.

By the end of February this year, the number of Internet users in Viet Nam reached 28 million, accounting for 32 per cent of the population.

The ministry has requested local authorities to increase the involvement of private sector in ICT, especially the development of broadband infrastructure.

“Provinces and cities should prioritise the use of local budgets and other resources to promote major ICT projects. The implementation of favourable policies to facilitate investment in ICT is indispensable,” it said.