Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - A lack of funding is a major problem in implementingthe master plan on simplifying administrative procedures, citizenship papersand the population management database for 2013-2020, according to officials.

The master plan, known as Programme 896, was approved by former Prime Minister NguyenTan Dung in 2015 as part of the development of e-government in Vietnam.

The plan aims to increase the use of IT in administrative procedures, reducepaperwork and streamline processes related to population management.

Under the plan, basic information on every citizen will be included in anational database on population using personal identification numbers by theend of 2020.

At a meeting on January 26, the Programme Steering Committee reported thatuntil now, 1,146 out of 1,934 administrative procedures related to populationmanagement have been simplified.

Also, the Public Security Ministry granted personal identification numbers tomore than eight million citizens in 16 cities and provinces.

More than 900,000 newborns had their birth certificates registered and wereissued citizen identification numbers since the Public Security Ministry andJustice Ministry launched the work early 2016.

Ministries and agencies launched a pilot programme collecting citizens’ data inthe northern cities of Hoa Binh and Phu Ly and a piloted residence managementsoftware programme in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Le Quy Vuong said at the meeting that theprogramme on population management database was behind schedule because of afunding shortage.

This also prevented data sharing between the national population database anddatabases at ministries/agencies, he said.

Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Khanh Ngoc said that it would be difficult tocomplete the national population database in the next two years because of thehuge workload.

Advancements in population management could not be made without a completenational database, Ngoc said.

Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Thanh Hung said that adigital population management database was the most important IT application inVietnam’s administrative reform.

“We are talking a lot about developing e-Government, administrative reform andsmart cities but the development of an important foundation – a digitalnational population database is behind schedule, which could slow down otherwork,” Hung said.

Addressing the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh, who is also Headof the Programme Steering Committee, urged ministries and agencies to speed upProgramme 896.

Ministries or agencies should closely co-operate with Public Security Ministrywhen developing their own database to avoid overlapping and waste, he said.

Binh also urged relevant parties to expand the issuance of personalidentification numbers so that the issuance would cover all 63 cities andprovinces nationwide by 2019.

The deputy PM asked ministries of Public Security, Finance, Planning andInvestment to complete proposal to the National Assembly Standing Committee toadd the programme into list of projects under middle term public investmentduring 2016-2020. - VNA