ICT is considered one of the most crucial components for the development of developing countries and is included as one of the Millennium Development Goals. Since the early 2000s, South Korea has actively participated in various ODA programs in the field of ICT. However, there is still room for improvement in order to enhance the effectiveness of Korea’s ODA programs in ICT. Within this context, this study focuses on Korea’s ICT ODA programs in Vietnam implemented in response to the steady and growing demand from the government of Vietnam. In this study, the current status of Vietnam’s ICT ODA was examined, based on findings from literature analysis and site visits. Interviews were also conducted with policy makers from Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications and Korean IT entrepreneurs based in Vietnam. Based on these findings, development strategy and measures for improving Korea’s ICT ODA programs in Vietnam are suggested.
Chapter 2 examines whether ICT could make real contributions to a developing country’s economic growth, social development and reform of the public sector. Requirements necessary for these developments to occur were also examined. Unlike other fields of development such as education or health, ICT serves more as a means to development rather than representing actual development. For instance, improvements in educational level and health improve the lives of people in developing countries. However, for ICT ODA to actually make an impact in improving the lives of people, it needs to go beyond simply providing the technology and equipments to the partner country but rather help create an environment where these tools can actually be used to improve the lives of people from developing countries. The authors suggested that in order to create an environment conducive for the successful outcome of ICT ODA, the role of public-private partnership, post-management, provision of appropriate technology, and usage should be emphasized.
Chapter 3 examines the current status of Vietnam’s ICT and related development strategies. The process of establishment and implementation of Vietnam’s ICT development strategies were also examined in relation to the government’s organizational features and possible obstacles in implementing these development strategies. Vietnam has already established a basic ICT infrastructure; and the demand for the advancement of ICT infrastructure and diffusion in various fields including the economy, society and public administration are growing. It is expected that the demand for the development of e-government will be particularly high in the future. The Vietnamese government listed ICT infrastructure as one of the ten key socio-economic infrastructures, while giving high priority to promoting the development and use of ICT. The current demands for ICT development in Vietnam can be categorized as follows: ➀ establishment of IT infrastructure, ➁ establishment of a national database, ➂ establishment of a national information system. The challenges in implementing these plans come from the absence of a control tower, a role which should be fulfilled by Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications, as well as the lack of cooperation between the central and local governments.
Chapter 4 examines the status of various ODA activities in Vietnam from Japan, United States, and other major development banks including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. From 2002 to 2012, total of 315 million USD were spent on ICT ODA in Vietnam, 73% (and the most) of which were expended by Japan, followed by South Korea. It is expected that Japan and Korea will continue to be Vietnam’s major donors in ICT ODA. By examining how the ODA were spent by these two countries, it was found that Japan concentrated its efforts in the broadcasting sector while South Korea concentrated on the informatization of the public administration sector.
Chapter 5 examines South Korea’s various ICT ODA projects and programs in Vietnam and its trends. Looking at ICT ODA made by different governmental agencies from South Korea so far, more than 70% came from concessional loans (EDCF), while 20% came from grants (KOICA), followed by ODA activities by other agencies. South Korea’s ICT ODA tended to be concentrated in public administration and education, as evidenced by the establishment of the Korea-Vietnam Friendship IT college and on-going construction of the Government Integrated Data Center. Based on the critical review of the ICT ODA in general and assessment of some of the major ICT ODA projects from this study, the following issues should be addressed in order to improve the quality of South Korea’s ICT ODA programs in Vietnam. First, the biggest challenge comes from the lack of coherent and unified development strategy which creates room for mutual cooperation and efficient division of labor among related agencies. Second, South Korea’s ICT ODA programs are being conducted without sufficient review and in-depth analysis of Vietnam’s political structure, economic conditions and culture. Such lack of prior understanding of Vietnam could pose difficulties in implementing the ODA programs including delays in implementation and the result not being applicable at the local level due to lack of localization. Given these circumstances, implementing a successful ICT ODA program requires combining South Korea’s ICT expertise with considerations for Vietnam’s local context.
Based on the discussions above, chapter 6 suggests a few areas in ICT ODA programs which South Korea can conduct in Vietnam where it would have the advantage, with recommendations on how to address the existing challenges. Suggestions on procedural improvements to conduct and enhance cooperation with Vietnam in the ICT area were also made. Lastly, the need for enhanced public-private partnerships and programs focusing on the ICT application were emphasized as important issues for the future of ICT ODA in Vietnam.
The optimal area for South Korea to conduct ICT ODA in Vietnam is informatization projects for public administration, namely the establishment of the e-government. Vietnam is already equipped with basic ICT infrastructure and the demand for ICT ODA continues to grow as its government has already identified the establishment of e-government as its national project and a necessity for administrative reform. When it comes to the establishment of e-government, South Korea has advantages over other donors of ICT ODA since its governmental agencies have already accumulated the expertise and know-how needed in the informatization of public administration, in addition to the fact that  South Korea is an ICT powerhouse.
However, in order for South Korea’s ICT ODA projects to be implemented successfully and yield favorable results, ODA programs should be conducted more systematically, based on the understanding of Vietnam’s ICT policy and governance. To cite an example of local context in ICT policy governance in Vietnam, it usually takes a long time to reach consensus among government organizations and it is not easy to collect data on the demand for ICT ODA programs due to lack of mandates for the Ministry of Information and Communications to coordinate different ICT related policies. In order to address these issues, there is a need to appoint an institution with the task of consolidating an up-to-date database of the current status and types of ICT ODA projects conducted in Vietnam so far. Due to the fast evolving nature of ICT itself, it poses another challenge for the successful implementation of ICT ODA programs, as it needs to be timely and applicable. If the assessment of demands and program implementation takes too much time, the results may not be useful as the technology has already become obsolete. To overcome this issue, it will be helpful to arrange regular meetings with Korean IT companies in Vietnam and provide opportunities for them to contribute in creating new and relevant businesses opportunities. In particular, efforts must be made to recognize successful pilot projects in ICT ODA and continue these projects as large-scale projects, be it a grant or concessional loan. It should be noted that Vietnam has taken a large amount of concessional loans from the World Bank for its ICT sector. In this context, South Korea’s ICT ODA program can also be used to create a foundation to aid its companies in entering the Vietnamese business market. In order for this to happen, it is imperative to improve operational system for ICT ODA’s and to increase the amount of ODA. Finally, the demand for the ICT application in other fields including education and health is expected to increase in the future. It will be desirable to create linkage for ICT with various other fields and find ways to improve in terms of providing proper systematic support, post-management and maintenance.