Seminar spotlights social networks in authorities-businesses dialogue

Quang Ninh (VNA) – The usefulness of social networks in enhancing dialogue between administration and businesses was highlighted at a seminar in the northern province of Quang Ninh on November 2.

The event was held by the provincial People’s Committee and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the support of social networking giant Facebook. It attracted representatives of the Government’s e-portal, the Ministry of Finance, Facebook, and 12 northern provinces and cities.

Chairman of the Quang Ninh People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Long said that realising the importance of IT application in institutional reform and the steering of socio-economic activities, the province set up the Facebook fanpage DDCI QUANG NINH in order to contact people and businesses. This fanpage has attracted more than 5,500 followers and over 100,000 likes and interactions since its creation just over a year ago.

Over the last three years, Quang Ninh has sustained fourth place among the 63 provinces and cities on the Vietnam ICT Index, greatly helping to improve its business climate and competitiveness.

Long partly attributed Quang Ninh’s top position in the country’s Provincial Competitiveness Index in 2017 to the opening of the DDCI QUANG NINH page, which has facilitated dialogue between provincial administration and the public.

At the seminar, Noudhy Valdryno, a representative from Facebook’s Asia-Pacific division, affirmed the necessity and effectiveness of using this social network in boosting dialogue.

He noted that globally, there are about 2.2 billion users active on a monthly basis and 1.4 billion daily users on Facebook. Around 378 million users visit the network on a daily basis in Southeast Asia alone.

With such a big number of frequent users, through more open and friendly policies, e-governments can make use of the social network to win over the public’s support, he added.

Nguyen Viet Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Financial Informatics and Statistics under the Ministry of Finance, said this ministry has stepped up IT application in its activities over the past few years, and gained encouraging outcomes. It is also working to apply new technologies considered “core” to Industry 4.0 which will facilitate the ministry’s dialogue with businesses.

At the seminar, participants discussed ways to utilise Facebook in this work, along with experiences in using social networks to boost the dialogue between authorities and enterprises, and the provision of administrative services. –VNA