At the conference entitled "Gaining access to information - International norms and experiences of Vietnam and Denmark", delegates agreed that freedom of opinion, speech, the press, the right to access information and other basic civil rights - which are inherent in a democratic society - are considered standards for ensuring people's liberty.

Those rights, they added, serve as an important foundation for a state of law and a civil society, and a key factor in developing democratic institutions.

Participants agreed that Vietnam has spared no effort over the past years to build a state of law, finalise its law system, ensure the citizens' rights to have access to information, and to improve public access to State agencies.

Specifically, the government has approved and implemented an information strategy until 2010 and an e-government plan with the aim of helping local people have better access to information.

At the conference, Danish experts advised on methods to gain access to information and the norms about the publicity and democracy of administrative agencies, judicial system, courts, inspectors and relevant organisations.

Experiences shared at the seminar will serve as a scientific foundation for Vietnam to build a Law on ensuring the civil right to access information.

The seminar was co-organised by Vietnamese Human Rights Research Institute and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.