Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung assuredMicrosoft that Vietnam will implement seriously and fully regulationson intellectual property protection and asked the group to continuewith preferential policies on software and IT development in Vietnam.

At his meeting with Microsoft Director General Steve Ballmer in Hanoion May 24, the PM expressed his delight to see the cooperation betweenVietnamese software producers and Microsoft growing rapidly in therecent time, bringing practical benefits to both sides.

He stressed that Vietnam ’s IT development strategy focuses ondeveloping the software industry, training human resources and building amodern IT infrastructure.

The government leader said he expected that Microsoft and Vietnamesepartners will discuss in details their cooperation to bring a positiveand effective turn to Vietnam ’s information technology industry.

He highly valued the efficient operation of the Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation, which has so far funded a series of healthcare andeducation programmes for the poor in Vietnam .

The PM suggested that the foundation continue deploying its programmesdesigned for Vietnam in the coming time, especially thosefacilitating human resource training and internet connection in ruralareas.

Expressing his joy to revisit Vietnam , Steve Ballmer noted that threeyears after Microsoft signed cooperative agreements with its Vietnamesepartners, Vietnam ’s IT and communication industry has madeoutstanding gains in internet development and IT application.

The Microsoft executive said his group will undergo upgrade and renewalin the coming time so it wishes to work more closely with Vietnam ’srelevant ministries and agencies not only in education and training andthe development of software solutions but also in other fields.

The executive spoke highly of Vietnam ’s effort in protectingcopyrights and intellectual property and pledged that his group willsell its products in Vietnam at reasonable prices in the future./.