The APEC Digital Opportunity Centre (ADOC) secretariat has launched a project to provide IT and vocational training to the disadvantaged.
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| The signing ceremony in Hanoi on June 16 |
The focus of the project would be those with special needs, the disadvantaged and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), with priority given to underprivileged children and women.
As part of this effort, the secretariat launched the Northern Vietnam ADOC Centre at the Centre for Women and Development (CWD) in Hanoi on June 16.
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s E-commerce Department Tran Huu Linh said, “Even though information technology has been widely applied, there remain ‘digital gaps’ between different regions and companies, especially small and medium-sized handicraft and fine art enterprises in rural areas.”
Associations and industries across Vietnam are still facing a shortage of IT facilities, Linh said, noting that the Government plans to prioritise enhancing people’s awareness and providing IT training during the next five years.
The occasion saw the secretariat signing co-operative agreements with the ASUS Computer Company and World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organisation, to provide computers for ADOC centres in Vietnam.
The project, in co-ordination with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, launched the first training centres in the country in 2005 in order to enhance competitiveness and computer skills among SMEs.
The Chinese Taipei self-funded project had by 2010 established 18 ADOC centres in Vietnam, benefiting 32,000 trainees.
This year, the secretariat and ASUS will join to donate four digital opportunity centres to Vietnam, in addition to granting 126 laptops to three ADOC centres.