ASEAN parliament delegations, including Việt Nam, on Tuesday called for acceleration of digitalisation and promotion of digital economy in the region on a safe and highly secure network, especially amid COVID-19 threats.

Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs Vũ Hải Hà (centre) led the Vietnamese
National Assembly in the virtual meeting of the Committee on Political matters during
the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly's General Assembly on Tuesday.
— VNA/VNS Photo

ASEAN parliament delegations on Tuesday called for an acceleration of digitalisation and promotion of digital economy in the region on a safe and highly secure network, especially amid COVID-19 threats.

The statements were made on Tuesday during the virtual meeting of the Committee on Political matters, as part of the 42nd General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly that opened on Monday under the theme of “Forging parliamentary cooperation in digital inclusion towards ASEAN Community 2025”.

The meeting was held under the chair of the Legislative Council of Brunei, AIPA member parliament delegations, and AIPA Secretary General Nguyễn Tường Vân.

The Committee urged Governments to have programmes in place to help raise awareness and protect the public in terms of cybersecurity, and concurred that the member parliaments need to further work with each other in cybersecurity issues and improving data protection legal frameworks.

At the session, the member parliaments unanimously approved four draft resolutions, including: Report of the 12th AIPA Advisory Group Meeting (AIPA Caucus 12); Enhancing cybersecurity and data protection towards a resilient cyberspace in ASEAN; Fostering human security in digital inclusion for ASEAN; and Strengthening parliamentary diplomacy towards the ASEAN Community.

The Vietnamese National Assembly delegation, led by Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs Vũ Hải Hà, has delivered opinions on some matters related to cyber security cooperation and data protection in ASEAN, promoted human security, promoted parliamentary diplomacy, and raised a number of proposals to strengthen AIPA-ASEAN cooperation in this field.

In the draft resolution for “Enhancing cybersecurity and data protection towards a resilient cyberspace in ASEAN,” the Vietnamese delegation urged for a cooperation mechanism via the parliamentary channel, for sharing experience in perfecting legislation and monitoring the implementation of cybersecurity laws, and continued international cooperation in the spirit of promoting mutual understanding and action within the ASEAN Community in terms of cybersecurity.

During the discussions for the resolution, Hải Hà said Việt Nam was highly interested in cyberspace issues as one of the key components in the country’s efforts to bring the achievements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to work for its socio-economic development.

Việt Nam passing the law on cyber information security in 2015 has promulgated the strategy on cybersecurity to realise its goals in protecting national sovereignty, interests and national security on the internet and building a safe and healthy cyberspace.

Việt Nam's National Assembly also adopted a cybersecurity law in 2018, marking a substantive milestone in attempts to regulate cybersecurity matters.

Việt Nam jumped 25 places after two years to rank 25th out of 194 countries and territories worldwide in the Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) in 2020, according to a report from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), said the official.

The NA official also stressed the country was respecting citizens’ rights to privacy in the cyberspace, especially as Việt Nam was implementing national digital transformation to 2025 with vision towards 2030 and building e-Government.

For the draft resolution of the “Fostering human security in digital inclusion for ASEAN”, the Vietnamese delegation said there should be common understanding in terms of the definition and approach to human security, in line with ASEAN Charter and ASEAN Human Rights Declaration and other relevant documents.

In the face of the devastation caused by COVID-19 pandemic, Việt Nam wants AIPA parliaments to boost information sharing to help contain the outbreaks and promote growth post-pandemic.

The Vietnamese delegation also said that parliamentary diplomacy should contribute to promoting friendship between nations and peoples, and at the same time, have positive contributions to support ASEAN Governments in their efforts to deepen regional integration, build a rules-based ASEAN Community with people at the front and centre, and together handle global issues like the ongoing pandemic. — VNS