Vietnamese Acting Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said that Vietnam as an emerging economy would be able to take advantage of the fourth industrial revolution, even though the country missed the first three.

 

“The future does not depend on the past in this new era.  Developing countries have fewer facilities from the previous revolutions, but they have fewer burdens and can move faster,” he said while attending a co-chairs meeting organised within the framework of the World Economic Forum on ASEAN, taking place in Hanoi from September 11-13.

 

He went on and said that success was not so much about technologies but about policies.

 

“Since developing countries don’t have a solid legal framework, they are more flexible to develop new policies to adapt and accept changes,” Hung said.

 

The acting minister said he came to the event to share his initiatives about the future for Vietnam and the region.

 

“I want to share the idea of developing one ASEAN, meaning a flat ASEAN – no roaming charges or roaming charges as low as local charges, so that everybody can travel but feel like they’re at home,” Hung said.

 

He also suggested establishing an ASEAN University of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), saying ICT is the key sector in the fourth industrial revolution.

 

The acting minister also put forward an initiative to set up a regional cyber security information centre and expressed his hope that the initiatives will be discussed during the forum.

 

“Our life nowadays depends on the internet, but the internet is not safe enough – so we have to make it safer in the future,” he said.
 

The WEF on ASEAN provides a platform for government and business leaders to share policy ideas and initiatives for the region’s key issues.- VNS/VNP