A businessman ratifies his electronic contract via his laptop. (Photo qltt.vn) DangHoang Hai, Director of the Vietnam E-Commerce and Digital Economy Agency,believes that online authentication will bring great benefits to thebusiness sector, notably in terms of costs.
Traditionalcontracts involve paper, printing costs and transfer costs. Meanwhile,electronic contracts will exempt contracting parties from incurring thosecosts, saving them about 30,000-80,000 VND (1.3-3.5 USD) for each contract.
“Giventhe number of contracts signed each year, the money saved is significant,” hesaid.
Incontrast to traditional contracts, which cannot be ratified in the absence ofsigners, electronic contracts can be signed anytime and anywhere, addingflexibility to the contract-making process and saving time.
“Thirdparties, including banks and the authorities, can rely on the authenticatedelectronic versions of a contract to verify its origin versions, cutting timeof the verification process and curbing forged documents,” Hai added.
Thedirector believes electronic contracts will allow firms to manage,store and look up contract-related data with ease and ensure highdata security.
Apartfrom the legal framework, the MoIT has also developed a national system forelectronic contracts, tasked with providing authenticated contract data tothird parties and bringing together licensed authenticators and serviceproviders.
Thesystem is expected to lay the foundations for an electronic contract market andconnect individuals and firms to a governmental platform that helps promotee-commerce transactions and legal conformity.
"Termsof dispute settlement, complaint handling and enforcement will beincorporated into each e-contract to lay the legal grounds for resolvingcontractual disputes," he said.
Accordingto the MoIT, e-commerce has been growing steadily in recent years in Vietnam withan annual growth of 16-17 percent.
OnMarch 15, the National Committee on Digital Transformation issued DecisionNo.17, aiming to raise the proportion of firms using e-contracts to half of thebusiness sector in 2022./.
VNA
