Trade liberalization and development in ICT sector and its impact on household welfare in Vietnam

This paper examines the ITC related issues in Viet Nam. The ICT sector in Viet Nam had not been developed until the 1980s. However, over the last decade of rapid growth, it has had a powerful impact on many aspects of life in this country. Although the ICT sector is still at an early stage of development and lags behind many other countries in the region, the government of Viet Nam made strong commitments to upgrade the nation's ICT capability and implemented significant reforms in terms of trade and investment liberalization in ICT sector over the last decade. This commitment has probably been the most important factor in accelerating ICT usage in society and government. It may also have partially contributed to achieve an average annual economic growth rate of 7.6 percent over the period 1991-2006 and reduce the poverty rate from 57 percent of the population in 1993 to less than 20 percent in 2004 (Duc, et al., 2006; VDR, 2005; GSO, 2004). Therefore, the relationship between ICTs development and household welfare in Viet Nam under the dynamic changes over the last decade need to be examined in more details. This is made possible by the availability of four high-quality household surveys3 spanning the period 1993-2004.