Contributing to modernising the administration in Vietnam through digital technology

Supporting the transformation of Vietnam’s administration

A fast-changing developing country for almost two decades, Vietnam has made the modernisation of its administration a priority focus for its development in recent years. The inclusion of digital technology in its reforms has played a central role since 2016. This priority has been reaffirmed by the new Prime Minister since his appointment in 2021.

The Vietnamese Government is relying on a very limited number of international partners to support it in this area. The cooperation with France has been a reference since 2018. Launched by the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of the Economy and Office of Government (OOG) during the visit by the French Prime Minister, it has resulted in the deployment of a technical assistance project financed by AFD. The participation of about 20 experts has served to share French experience in “e-government” and provide support for the creation of the public service portal.

Find out more about the Project to Support the e-Government Reform in Vietnam

A new project to modernise the Vietnamese administration

The “Contribution to the modernisation of the Vietnamese administration through digital technology” project is part of the overall framework of the 2018 agreement and follows on from AFD’s project. It is fully in line with the current priorities of the Embassy’s action plan (“continue cooperation on law, justice and governance, particularly in the field of e-government”). It takes the full measure of the increasing integration of the digital dimension in the requests for exchanges of expertise made by Vietnamese administrations concerning law, justice and governance.

Through its crosscutting approach combining the development of digital technology and the modernisation of the administration, this project aims to go beyond the achievements of this cooperation and closely align with several priorities of the Vietnamese authorities over the next ten years. This same approach will also be used to address new issues, such as interministerial work and crisis management.

Contributing to improving public services for citizens and companies

The overall objective of this project is to support the transformation of the administration, in line with the framework defined by the Vietnamese Government (reduce, simplify and digitalise administrative procedures) and provide work tools to improve its effectiveness (interministerial cooperation, decentralisation, crisis management). In other words, it aims to actively contribute to improving public services for citizens and companies.

More specifically, the project aims to:

1. Continue to support the rule of law in Vietnam by contributing to the transparency and efficiency of the administration in line with the action plan of the French Embassy in Vietnam

2. Maintain a high-level dialogue on governance at the most senior levels of the Vietnamese State

3. Support the private sector by contributing to the predictability of the business environment.

Project activities and progress

The project will be implemented based on three main areas:

1. Support the deployment of the Vietnamese Government’s information and management centre

2. Support the optimisation of relations and procedures between Vietnamese administrations

3. Contribute to administrative simplification for public service users

At its completion, this project will be considered a success if it has resulted in:

• A significant and inclusive nationwide dissemination of digital administrative procedures and in particular for the least connected people

• A greater clarity and predictability in the business environment in Vietnam

• The deployment of a doctrine on governance through data in line with the highest international standards, enabling the establishment of a secure and stable legal framework for the protection of digital personal data  

• The dissemination of a potential model for effective work between administrations.