HANOI - US software giant Microsoft on Monday signed an agreement with a Vietnam government ministry to use only licensed programmes in a bid to reduce rampant software piracy in the communist country.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer met Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on a one-day visit during which both witnessed the signing of the agreement to use genuine Microsoft Office software in the post and telematics ministry.
The deal would make the ministry compliant with intellectual property (IP) protection rules and help foster the development of a vibrant information and communication technology (ICT), both sides said in a statement.
"With 60 percent of our 84 million citizens under thirty, 96 percent literacy rate and an economy that is already the second-fastest growing in Asia, Vietnam is well positioned to join the countries who have experienced the miracle of ICT," said the post and telematics deputy minister, Vu Duc Dam.
A recent survey by research firm the International Data Corporation found that Vietnam remains among the world's most software piracy-prone nations.
Business Software Alliance Asia vice president Jeffrey Hardee said the new initiative showed Vietnam was getting serious about reducing piracy.
"We anticipate that the Vietnam government licensing agreement of desktops could reduce the overall piracy rate in Vietnam significantly next year, resulting in perhaps one of the biggest single-year drops we'll see in the region as the Vietnam government broadens its IP awareness and enforcement efforts," he said in a statement.-AFP
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