Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates will visit Vietnam next month at the invitation of Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, a visit the government says will help to boost information technology in the country, the government said Thursday.
"Vietnamese government is very keen on investing on the development of information technology ... and we hope that the visit by the chairman of Microsoft will actively contribute to the development of information technology in Vietnam," Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Dung told reporters at a regular press briefing. Khai extended the invitation to Gates during his visit to the United States last year when he toured the software giant's headquarters near Seattle, Washington. It was the first trip by a Vietnamese prime minister to America since the end of the Vietnam war.
At the time, the two men had signed agreements for Microsoft to help Vietnam develop its IT companies and train some 50,000 teachers to use computer software.
Dung said during his April 21-22 visit, Gates will have talks with Khai, President Tran Duc Luong, meet with Vietnam's information technology officials and have an online interaction with Vietnamese students.
He will also tour the northern province of Bac Ninh near Hanoi to see how information technology is being universalized and applied in the rural areas, Dung said.
He will also tour the northern province of Bac Ninh near Hanoi to see how information technology is being universalized and applied in the rural areas, Dung said.