Hanoi (VNA) - The second webinar of thesixth ASEAN - OCED Good Regulatory Practice Network Meeting took place onOctober 5 and discussed how to leverage digital tools for agile regulatorypolicymaking.

In his opening remarks, Director General of theAdministrative Procedures Control Agency of Vietnam Ngo Hai Phan expressed his hope that the webinar willprovide helpful insights into the use of digital tools to issue policies inresponse to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nguyen The Trung, a member of the Government Office’sconsulting group on e-government, said collaboration between the medical andtechnological sectors is an effective way to cope with the pandemic.

Vietnam built three pillars: improving the Government’scapacity and responsibility for pandemic control, the medical sector’scapability, and public awareness of the effort. A number of apps were launchedto trace suspected infections, such as khaibaoyte.vn, Ncovi.vn, and Bluezone,he said.

The Government’s active response, with a correct visionand rapid and practical actions, was the most important factor in combating thepandemic, along with public consensus and data-based decision making.

Deputy Secretary General of the Malaysian Ministry of InternationalTrade and Industry Hairil Yahri Yaaacob said his government called onmanagement agencies and the private sector to deal with procedural barriers,especially for those hit by the pandemic.

A number of initiatives have been launched, includingbuilding a portal to address policy obstacles and establishing an economicaction council led by the Prime Minister.

Participants looked into the digitalisation of regulatoryenforcement, such as e-verification, e-bidding, and e-procurement, the principlesof effective policy making, and upgrades to regulatory management systems./.