Hanoi, May 21:

Microsoft (MS) CEO Steve Ballmer witnessed the signing of an accord today requi-ring all of Vietnam’s government offices to use licensed computer software in a step to curb rampant piracy.

“The agreement demonstrates very strong commitments of the government of Vietnam,” in protecting intellectual property rights, prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung told Ballmer before the signing ceremony.

Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance was the first government agency to sign the Microsoft Office licensing accord during a visit by company chairman Bill Gates last year. “I see a prosperous future ahead for Vietnam, and the country is doing the right things by looking now at how it can foster a healthy local software ecosystem, which will help open up this market to the rest of the world,” Ballmer said.

The software piracy rate in Vietnam is about 90 per cent, one of the highest in the world, according to the US-based Business Software Alliance, a piracy watchdog group. A version of Microsoft Windows can be bought on the street for as little as 50 US cents.

The Business Software Alliance hails the licensing agreement saying it demonstrates how the government is serious about protecting intellectual property rights and reducing piracy.

“We anticipate that the Vietnam government licensing agreement of desktops could reduce the overall piracy rate in Vietnam significantly next year,” Jeffrey Hardee, the Alliance’s Asia Pacific regional director said in a Microsoft Corp statement.