Vietnam will set off its national database system on the population on July 1, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced at a conference on June 22 with the attendance of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Deputy Minister of Public Security Nguyen Duy Ngoc said that the project is Vietnam’s largest on information technology, modernizing population management with the application of science and technology, based on the national population database and identification.

With a total investment of more than VND3.3 trillion (US$150 million), the project was approved by the Vietnamese Government in 2015, Ngoc said, adding that components of the project are building technical infrastructure, leasing transmission infrastructure, and building application software systems.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, right, congratulates the MPS on completing the project of a national database system on population and citizen identification issuance and management systems. Photo: Trong Phu

It will form the basic content of the national scheme on simplifying administrative procedures, the management of citizenship documents, and population databases, Ngoc stressed.

The MPS is responsible for building the database to store, standardize, digitize and manage the basic information of all Vietnamese citizens.

“The national population database will store basic information of all Vietnamese citizens that has been standardized and digitized. It is aimed at facilitating state management and interactions between agencies, organizations, and individuals,” Ngoc said.

He added that this is a large-scale project that requires developers to have technology and experience in implementing major projects on a national level. By the end of January 2021, the MPS had collected more than 86 million survey cards and data of 81 million has been imported into the national database on population.

Speaking at the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said that the national population database system, considered as a valuable national resource, is one of the six core national databases that play an important role in the development of e-government, digital economy, and digital society in Vietnam.

"Advanced technologies being used globally will be employed to ensure maximum efficiency and security in building the Vietnamese database, Chinh said.

He noted that these technologies must meet certain requirements, including processing capacity, operational stability, information security, users’ convenience, and ease of integration with other Governmental information systems.