January, 2001
Vietnam Development Information Center--A Window on Vietnam's Development
Contact Person:
In Hanoi:
Hoang Thanh Ha (844) 9346600
e-mail: hha@worldbank.org
In Washington:
Kimberly Versak (1) 202 473 4919
e-mail: kversak@worldbank.org
Hanoi, January 4, 2001-The Vietnam Development Information Center (VDIC) was officially opened today at 63 Ly Thai To Street, Hanoi. The opening ceremony brought together numerous Government officials, representatives of the diplomatic and international community, and officials from Distance Learning Centers, via live videoconference, from China, Thailand, Singapore, France, Senegal, and the USA. As a cutting-edge information center, VDIC will bring the world to Vietnam, and Vietnam to the world, in the spirit of partnership and towards a common goal of fostering sustainable and enduring development.
"Vietnam is in the process of shaping its development strategy for the 21st Century towards a knowledge-based economy to promote stable and sustainable development," said Le Vu Hung, Vice Minister of Education and Training at the opening ceremony. "We believe that with this modern information and telecommunications facility, the VDIC will be one of the bridges linking Vietnam with the rest of the world by providing access to the most up-to-date development information and knowledge, as well as sharing experience worldwide, and helping the outer world understand Vietnam better."
VDIC offers to the public and to policy-makers in Vietnam a range of facilities and services that will both stimulate development thinking as well as provide access to the latest knowledge and information on development available worldwide. VDIC facilities include a reference library, a bookshop, a public information materials section, Web-search and CD-ROM workstations, display and exhibition space, and video-conference and distance learning facilities.
The Center is the result of a joint effort by a number of partners from Vietnamese and donor institutions. The Vietnamese Government's active support to VDIC operations is coordinated by the State Bank of Vietnam. Other Government agencies and institutions participate as beneficiaries and contributors to Center programs. The academic and research community also play an important role in the Center's planning and operations through universities and national research institutions. The VDIC has been supported financially and in-kind by the Governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark and Japan, the UNDP, and the World Bank.
"What started as an idea only a few short years ago has become a reality in Vietnam, and part of a movement worldwide. The VDIC is one of Asia's first Distance Learning Centers. It will enable Vietnamese policymakers, academics and experts speak face to face with counterparts in other countries, in sharing their experiences and learning from each other. It will also allow interactive training courses to be beamed into to Vietnam, in a way that teachers and students can speak to each other face to face, even although they are 10,000 kilometers apart," said Andrew Steer, Director of the World Bank in Vietnam.
"The VDIC is a real example of the proper and good use of partnership, and will serve to reinforce the central role of knowledge sharing in development processes. The VDIC is a model for the rest of the developing world - and this can only have a positive impact for the people of Vietnam ," said Edouard Wattez, UN Resident Coordinator.
"The use of information technology should be the key for human resources development in the 21st century, both in developed and developing countries alike. The VDIC is expected to play a pivotal role in expanding the benefits of information technology in Vietnam. It is certainly significant that the Center was created through the joint efforts of development partners in Vietnam, " said Takeshi Nakamura, Japan's Ambassador to Vietnam.
"The facilities of the VDIC are an example of an efficient investment in human resources, of transferring knowledge for the business community, for policy makers, and even for students. People are Vietnam's most precious resource, and knowledge and experience are now the most important resources for growth and development. I wish to see VDIC help to improve human resources and modernize knowledge in Vietnam," said Le Dang Doanh, President, Central Institute for Economic Management.
"The VDIC will offer Vietnam a unique range of distance learning facilities and access to global knowledge and information. It will provide an excellent learning resource for Vietnam - and will stimulate development dialogue and planning. It is an exciting example of the positive impact which technology can bring to learning, " said Michael Mann, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam.
"The growth of the digital economy and global knowledge society make it very apparent that everyone in the world is connected to everyone else. In its plans for integration, Vietnam can use VDIC to participate in the benefits of increasing connectivity. Canada is very pleased to be an active partner in a project that demonstrates how increased access to knowledge can be useful for Vietnam's development", declared Cecile Latour, Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam.
"The World Bank's initiative to create this new center is yet another demonstration of readiness to turn the discussion about the development partnership into reality. We see the Development Information Center as an important new facility to bring Vietnam and its partners together to pursue new avenues to development," said Ove Ullerup, Denmark's Ambassador to Vietnam.
"The objective of the Center is to deepen cooperation, better serve the Government and people of Vietnam, and to expand partnerships with development assistance agencies active in Vietnam," according to Andrew Scyner, Manager of VDIC.
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The Vietnam Development Information Center is located in central Ha Noi, across from the historic Opera House, at 63 Ly Thai To. If you wish to learn more about how you can use the Center's facilities, please come and visit or contact us by telephone, at (84-4) 934-6845 fax, at (84-4) 934-6847, E-mail, at ctran@worldbank.org, or visit our website at www.vdic.org.vn.
VDIC - Basic Information
The Vietnam Development Information Center is a partnership initiative of official development assistance agencies and Government ministries who wish to promote the use and access to knowledge for development. It is managed by the World Bank, and supported financially and in-kind by the UNDP, the governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, and Japan. Staff include a Manager, a Distance Learning Coordinator, a Librarian and Assistant Librarian, and a Public Information Assistant.
Its library, bookstore, and Web-search stations are open to the public.
Its open access reference library holds approximately 3000 titles, which will expand to a potential 8000 titles through acquisitions and donations.
95 titles of documents are for sale, including important flagship publications from partner development agencies.
Hundreds of pamphlets and brochures on development activities in Vietnam are available free of charge.
The VDIC has videoconference facilities and a specialized training room that can accommodate 45 people seated. Because of the limited number of seats and the nature of the courses offered, attendance is by invitation only.
Examples of Distance Learning courses offered through the VDIC include Urban Management, Business Journalism, Social Security and Pension Reform, Environmental Economics, Sustainable Financing of Health Sector Reforms, and Frontiers in Infrastructure Financing.
In the months ahead, the VDIC's distance learning classroom will be busy, and many more people will benefit from the activities hosted by the VDIC. February will see 12 distance learning events, and in March, more than 30 sessions are planned. Examples include a course on Judicial training, a series of dialogues on Decentralization in East Asia, a seminar on Knowledge for Development, and a course on Policy and Institutional Reform for Sustainable Rural Development.
The VDIC is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday.
If you would like to have the Vietnamese translation of the press release and/or the factsheet, please call or E-mail
Hoang Thanh Ha at Tel. (84-4) 934 6600 ext 234, Fax (84-4) 934 6597, or e-mail hha@worldbank.org
For more information on the World Bank's work in Vietnam, visit the Bank's Vietnam country website at
www.worldbank.org.vn
