Minister of Information and Communications: Amending the Law on Electronic Transactions to institutionalize policies on digital economy and digital transformation

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that the development and promulgation of laws at this time is very necessary to institutionalize the viewpoints and policies of the Party and State.

Specifically, Resolution 52 of the Politburo on a number of policies and strategies to proactively participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution clearly states: "Improving the law to facilitate the national digital transformation process and developing new products, services, and economic models based on digital technology, the Internet, and cyberspace...".

In addition, this law also aims to overcome difficulties and shortcomings in the 17 years of implementation of the 2005 Law on Electronic Transactions...

Expanding the scope of electronic transactions

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung said that the bill has 8 chapters and 56 articles, in which the amended and supplemented contents follow 9 policies approved by the Government in Resolution No. 152 on the specialized meeting on law-making in November 2021.

Specifically, this bill removes the exclusion of the 2005 law. While the current law stipulates that “it does not apply to the issuance of certificates of land use rights, house ownership rights and other real estate, inheritance documents, marriage certificates, divorce decisions, birth certificates, death certificates, bills of exchange and other valuable papers”, this bill expands the scope of application of electronic transactions to all activities of social life.

Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung.

According to the explanation of the Minister of Information and Communications, this expansion is based on the fact that digital technology is now ready, popular, safe, reliable, meets the requirements set forth, and adds legal regulations on reliable services in the law.

Along with the exclusion, the bill also clearly stipulates: "This law does not regulate the content of transactions. Other laws that stipulate transactions not conducted by electronic means shall comply with the provisions of that law."

Thus, the expansion allows eligible fields to apply electronic transactions, but does not imply a requirement. Fields that are not suitable for applying electronic transactions according to the provisions of relevant specialized laws shall apply according to the provisions of that law.

Regarding the policy on the legal value of data messages, the revised bill specifies in detail how to determine the legal value of data messages. It adds provisions on conditions to ensure legal value when converting from paper to data messages and vice versa; and adds provisions on electronic certificates.

Minister Nguyen Manh Hung said that the biggest problem in promoting electronic transactions throughout the process is that the final result is still paper documents. Currently, there are only regulations on implementing administrative procedures in the digital environment.

“Introducing the concept of electronic certificates and ensuring legal value for this form is a major breakthrough to promote electronic transactions in industries, fields and society to take place throughout the entire process, from start to finish by electronic means,” the Minister of Information and Communications emphasized, adding that this content has also been updated by many countries in the new law.

Trust is the most important issue in electronic transactions.

Regarding the policy on the legal value of electronic signatures, the draft law basically does not change in principle compared to the 2005 law, only generalizing, amending and supplementing specific regulations on electronic signatures and digital signatures; at the same time, detailing the use and recognition of foreign electronic signatures.

Regarding the policy on trusted services in electronic transactions, the bill adds two services: Timestamp issuance service and data message authentication service.

“Trust is the most important issue in e-transactions. The lack of third-party guarantees for e-transactions is the biggest barrier to the transition from the physical environment to the digital environment,” said the Minister of Information and Communications.

In addition, the bill also amends and supplements content related to policies regulating the legal value of electronic contracts. Specifically, the bill adds regulations on contracts signed through automated information systems.

The bill also adds regulations on data management, databases, open data, and regulations for state agencies to promote e-transaction activities, aiming to move all activities to the digital environment; promote digital transformation, develop digital government, digital economy and digital society.

In addition, the bill also specifically stipulates types of information systems serving electronic transactions; electronic transaction accounts; and responsibilities of system owners.

The draft also adds provisions on data message security. Regarding network security and safety, in 2005 there was no legal framework on this issue. However, the Law on Network Information Security (2015) and the Law on Network Security (2018) have established a very specific legal framework on network security and safety. Therefore, this draft law does not need to provide detailed regulations on this issue.

Preliminary examination of this bill, Chairman of the Committee for Science, Technology and Environment Le Quang Huy agreed with the necessity of amending the Law on Electronic Transactions as submitted by the Government.

According to the program, this draft law will be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration and comments at the 4th session next October.