A top diplomat will go online this week in the first of a series of Internet chats organised by the ruling Communist Party, the party's online newspaper said on Sunday.
It said special envoy Vu Khoan would on Wednesday answer questions from readers about Vietnam's entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and last month Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi.
The party, which embraces market reforms but maintains one-party rule and state control of all media, said in October that leaders would have regular online chats with the public on corruption and other controversial issues, a first for Vietnam.
Khoan, who signed a historical trade pact with former war enemy the US in 2000 and resigned earlier this year as a deputy prime minister, will discuss the impact of WTO commitments on agriculture, services, industry and employment.
"The editorial board of the newspaper invites interested readers to monitor and raise questions on those issues via e-mail or by telephone," the newspaper (www.cpv.org.vn) said.
Prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who last week issued a directive reaffirming Vietnam's ban on privatisation of the media, could follow Khoan to go online. Dung told delegates of the one-party National Assembly, or Parliament, that he was ready to use the Internet or telephone to answer their questions.
Only about 3.1 million Vietnamese out of an 83 million population are Communist Party members, according to the party, and about 16% of Vietnamese have access to the Internet.
Hanoi imposes legal and technical controls to block access to writings and people on the Internet who challenge one-party rule, while itself using Web sites to promote its socio-economic policies and growing international ties.
Last week, the assembly ratified accession to the WTO, paving the way for Vietnam to become the 150th member of the free trade club by year-end.
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