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The Government Office on October 7 sent a document to Minister of Public Security, conveying the Prime Minister’s instructions on the form of citizen chip-mounted identity cards to be used in Vietnam.

The Ministry of Public Security will issue 50 million identity cards prior to July 1, 2021.

The Prime Minister stressed that the technology to be utilized for new identity cards must be advanced technology which allows electronic transactions and saves costs for everyone. This also helps speed up the national digital transformation process, striving for a digital government, economy and

Ministries, branches and provincial/municipal people’s committees have been asked to to cooperate with the Ministry of Public Security in deploying chip-mounted identity cards, using information on the cards and building platforms to be integrated into cards before granting cards to citizens.

The project on producing, granting and managing citizen identity cards, capitalized at VND2.696 trillion, was approved by the Prime Minister on September 3, 2020.

The plan aims to improve state management efficiency, create favorable conditions for citizens when following administration procedures and conducting civil transactions, and serve the fight against criminals.

Under the project, to be implemented in 2020-2022, a unified citizen identity system will be built and put under control by the Ministry of Public Security, which comprises hardware (biometric identification system, server, workstations, peripherals, storage devices, security devices), software (commercial software, applied software), training service and infrastructure setting.

The representative of the Ministry of Public Security at an online conference held on September 9 discussing the card and reviewing the 6-month implementation of the project on national population database said that the ministry would report to the government it would activate the two systems and put them into trial operation by February 2021 before official operation in July 2021.

The salient point of the identity card project is the change in the collecting of fingerprints. It is expected that on November 1, 2020, the Ministry of Public Security will begin collecting fingerprints nationwide.

It integrates many associated apps, including digital signature, biometric apps and one-time password apps, which can be used for public services. People will not have to bring many documents with them when conducting transactions.

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Receiving the task of establishing the national population database, the Police Department for Administrative Management of Social Order (PC06) under the Ministry of Public Security selected the joint venture named VNPT – HADIC – GTEL ICT to design and then build this database.

The project to form a citizen ID card issuance and management system is assigned to the joint venture of GTEL ICT – Tecapro – Egov and the joint venture of MK Group.

Aiming at being modern, synchronous, highly secured, and money-saving, the two systems are centrally designed and located in Hanoi, with a backup one in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).

Both exploit the fingerprint biometrics technology for ease of tracking the origin of a person. Notably, the second system shares data with the first one while consistently ensuring level-4 data security in accordance with the Government’s regulation. Identification via digital signature is also used to maintain the completeness of the database.

The national database on population is the one of the cores in establishing an e-government and a digital government, society later. Therefore, participants in developing this database must be IT capable and fully experienced in doing large complex national projects.

Being the leader in the project, VNPT concentrates its most powerful human resources of 3,000 high-leveled employees to perform necessary tasks nationwide.

The joint venture of VNPT – HADIC – GTEL ICT then select the multi-layer and multi-techno architecture to ensure the tightest security possible. Other state-of-the-art technologies in the world are also chosen to form this database to offer the greatest convenience to users while allowing adjustments in the future.

Meanwhile, MoPS cooperated with related organizations to research the optimal method to produce chip-and-QR-code attached citizen ID cards that are pleasing to the eye. These cards must also follow international standards and meet technical criteria.

At present, the police are issuing new citizen ID cards nationwide, with the aim to deliver 50 million cards before July 1, 2021 for eligible people.

Major-General To Van Hue, Head of PC06, shared that the national population database and the issuance and management system for citizen ID cards are among the 6 prioritized databases to be the foundation for the creation of an e-government.

The successful development and operation of these systems are expected to enrich the e-government ecosystem in our nation, contributing to form a transparent government and a digital Vietnam in the near future.

By Quynh Luu – Translated by Vien Hong

A year on since the Covid-19 pandemic first began Vietnamese are taking more control of their health and finance, driving greater interest in fitness and well-being along with insurance and retirement planning. — Photo courtesy of Manulife

HCM CITY — A year on since the Covid-19 pandemic first began Vietnamese are taking more control of their health and finance, driving greater interest in fitness and well-being along with insurance and retirement planning, as Asia looks to the longer-term impact of the disease, according to new research from Manulife.

The latest version of the ‘Manulife Asia Care Survey’ takes a closer look into customers’ concerns, priorities and aspirations, polling 4,000 people across the region who either own insurance or intend to buy it in the next six months, including around 520 in Việt Nam.

Nearly all (95 per cent) of those who worry most about Covid have made an effort on a personal level to improve their overall health, mostly through more regular exercise (58 per cent) and improved diet (54 per cent).

In Việt Nam, all the respondents said they had taken action to help them manage Covid, with 72 per cent saying this included doing more regular exercise. More people in Hà Nội (85 per cent) do more regular exercise than in HCM City (73 per cent).

Almost everyone is self-monitoring health, and Vietnamese pay the most attention to the number of steps walked (44 per cent) among the four emerging markets covered in the survey, against a regional average of 38 per cent.

Three out of five (60 per cent) of Vietnamese also own fitness wearables, well above the regional average of 46 per cent.

A large majority of Vietnamese (79 per cent) also said retirement planning has become more important since Covid-19 started, below the Philippines (90 per cent), Indonesia (88 per cent) and Malaysia (83 per cent) but higher than all the developed markets.

The regional average is 73 per cent.

This high level of interest in retirement ties in with their concerns about personal wealth.

In Việt Nam, more than half (52 per cent) thought their personal wealth would decline as a result of Covid-19. The rate was only higher in Hong Kong (58 per cent) and Singapore (55 per cent).

Aligned with taking better control of health and finance is an interest to buy new insurance.

In Việt Nam, a remarkable nine out of ten (91 per cent) said they intend to buy new insurance in the next six months, higher than anywhere else in the region. The regional average is 71 per cent.

The Vietnamese respondents were most interested in life, hospitalisation, accident and critical illness cover.

Three quarters (75 per cent) of Vietnamese respondents, again more than anywhere else in the region, said they prefer to manage their policies through digital means such as mobile apps, including for claims and payment.

The survey found that 71 per cent of them had spoken to an agent about purchasing insurance, well above the regional average of 64 per cent, with only Hong Kong (77 per cent) and mainland China (76 per cent) scoring higher.

“Vietnamese insurance customers are seeking more digital touchpoints that are safe, simple and convenient,” Sang Lee, CEO of Manulife Vietnam, said.

“While those digital habits are here for the long term, a good many still like to speak to their agents. This underscores the importance of our omnichannel approach, one that fully integrates digital, while maximising our human qualities of empathy, trust and a holistic understanding of our customers’ needs.” — VNS

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) transits through South China Sea while conducting routine underway operations, February 5, 2021. — Photo from the US Department of Defense

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam is a responsible member of the international community and always upholds provisions under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS 1982), spokesperson for the foreign ministry Lê Thị Thu Hằng said.

She made the statement on Thursday in the regular press briefing, held virtually this time due to COVID-19 in Hà Nội, when asked for Việt Nam’s reaction to the US Navy’s first freedom of navigation operation (FONOP) held under the Biden administration in February.

The guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain reportedly conducted the FONOP near the Trường Sa (Spratly) and Hoàng Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes in the South China Sea (known as the East Sea by Việt Nam) over which Việt Nam has repeatedly claimed sovereignty, but contested by mainland China and China’s Taiwan.

“By engaging in innocent passage without giving prior notification to or asking permission from any of the claimants,” the US Navy noted in a statement.

Also regarding the recent statement by French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly that France had sent the nuclear submarine, SNA Emeraude, to patrol the South China Sea, together with the naval support ship BSAM Seine, the said spokesperson said: “As a responsible member of the international community and a signatory of the UNCLOS 1982, Việt Nam always upholds the provisions of the UNCLOS, including items related to maritime and flight activities over the sea regions set up in accordance with UNCLOS 1982.”

“The maintenance of peace, stability, security and order, safety, maritime and overflight freedom, the rule of law, with respect to sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction of the littoral countries in the South China Sea, in a manner that is consistent with the UNCLOS 1982, is the shared goal, interests, responsibility, and aspiration of all countries and of the international community,” Hằng said.

Việt Nam hopes that all countries would strive for “positive contribution” to the maintenance of peace and stability on the basis of international law in the South China Sea region, the Vietnamese diplomat stressed. — VNS