The 21- member council chaired by the former Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Dr Bui Manh Hai includes leaders from Vietnam’s leading businesses and representatives from information and technology (IT) training schools, research institutes plus media agencies.

In his speech, the Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, Nguyen Minh Hong said that the council will play a leading role in drawing up and monitoring development policies to make them more effective.

Right after the opening ceremony, a seminar was held to discuss the policy on developing the software industry in Vietnam with the participation of more than 100 domestic and foreign software businesses. The focus was on the market, supportive policies and developing human resources in IT.

Mr Hai said that some thorny points in the policy raised for discussion provided a chance for the council to give an overall evaluation of the software industry which will help it to develop a plan for the council’s activities from now until 2010.