The Deputy Minister of Industry andTrade, Bui Xuan Khu, has said that Vietnam is actively involved ininternational e-commerce and is linking up with other countries so itcan catch up with the rest of the world.

Addressinga seminar on building up capacity to protect privacy during e-commercetransactions held in Hanoi on July 22, Deputy Minister Khu said thatthe nation has taken part in a programme to identify ways of protectingprivacy in APEC e-commerce.

This will help Vietnam to create effective privacy-protection policiesin line with the country’s situation and help it avoid barriers to theflow of information.

The seminar, co-hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and theCentre for Information Policy and Leadership (CIPL), is part of anumber of activities to bring in a programme on privacy protection ine-commerce among APEC member economies.

The US Ambassador to Vietnam , Michael Michalak, emphasised theimportance of the seminar’s theme, saying that it will help Vietnam andother countries worldwide to build a typical e-commerce model.

Ensuring safety and privacy will open up more e-commerce opportunities,attract investment and help raise living standards in Vietnam and otherAPEC member economies, the US diplomat said.

Experts from Australia , the Philippines and the US also discussedissues relating to privacy protection in Vietnam , the safety ofinformation and the APEC privacy framework.

Although Vietnam is ranked poorly in e-commerce, e-commerce has alreadybeen widely applied in enterprises across the country, said theministry.

The number of enterprises that have websites rose from 31 percent in2005 to 45 percent in 2008 and 99 percent of businesses are connectedto the Internet./.