Hanoi (VNA) – 💫The World Bank (WB) announced its World Development Report 2016: Digital Dividends in Hanoi on March 14.

The report underscored the need to roll out development strategies for digital technologies with broader vision than those of information and communications (IT). It said the full benefits of the IT transformation will not be realised unless countries continue to improve their business climate, invest in people’s education and health, and promote good governance. In countries where these fundamentals are weak, digital technologies have not boosted productivity or reduced inequality. Countries that complement technology investments with broader economic reforms reap digital dividends in the form of faster growth, more jobs and better services, the report noted. Addressing the ceremony, WB Country Director to Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa said digital technologies have spread rapidly in much of the world. In many instances, digital technologies have boosted growth, expanded opportunities and improved service delivery, she said. According to Kwakwa, the report suggested countries work on the “analog complements” – strengthening regulations that ensure competition among businesses, adapting workers’ skills to the demands of the new economy, and by ensuring that institutions are accountable, in order to get the most out of the digital revolution. Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam affirmed that the Vietnamese Government encourages the development of digital technologies, as evidenced through the country’s favourable legal climate for digital technologies. IT has helped people from all walks of life, especially those in far-flung areas and the poor, have more opportunities to exercise their rights to mastery, the official said. He called on businesses to apply IT in their operation and the public to increase their access to IT in their daily lives. IT firms, particularly, should give importance to social responsibilities in order to develop together, he said.-VNA