Vietnamese citizen to have personal code VietNamNet Bridge - The personal code, consisting of 12 digits, will be granted for each citizen since birth and it will not change, according to the Ministry of Justice.    The use of the personal code and information technology on administrative procedures will help save a lot of time, which is equivalent to over VND461 billions ($23 million) per year.  The Ministry of Justice has just completed a draft plan on simplify administrative procedures, citizenship papers and national demographic database at the request of the National Assembly Standing Committee and the Government. The plan aims to serve the construction of the Law on Civil Status, provide personal code for each citizen, improve the procedures for registration of birth, dead and marriage, and build the national database on civil status. The plan makers say that to improve the legal basis, the first task that must be done is applying the personal code as the foundation for building personal papers for each citizen. The personal code will be a 12 digit number, granted to each person since their birth and it will never change and will not be granted to another citizen. The codes will be included in the national demographic database. The Ministry of Public Security will assist the Government to manage the personal code database. The code will be given to every citizen when performing birth registration, since the effective date of the Law on Civil Status.  For those who registered birth before that date, the code will be granted when they get new I.D cards or change their permanent residence registration. The personal code will be noted on the ID cards. The personal code is the original number for tracking about a Vietnamese citizen from the national demographic database to serve management. The district and provincial-level police agencies are responsible to grant the personal code for citizens whose birth certificate was granted before the effective date of the Law on Civil Status, when they get new or change their I.D cards or permanent residence registration.  The commune-level police agencies are responsible to grant the personal code for new-born citizens when their births are registered since the effective date of the Law on Civil Status. On average, Vietnamese people may need about 20 personal papers. There are about 70 administrative procedures related to these papers. With the population of 90 million people, the number of administrative transactions between people and the authorities is estimated at 600,000 a day. Most of these procedures are done manually and requires citizens to prove their identities through the presentation or submit a copy or certified copies of personal papers. According to the Ministry of Justice, the use of the personal code and information technology on administrative procedures will help save a lot of time, which is equivalent to over VND461 billions ($23 million) per year; VND4.78 trillion ($230 million) of expenditure for copying and certifying documents; and VND2.2 trillion ($110 million) for handling administrative formalities at state bodies. The granting of personal code will be implemented from June 2013 to May 2014, according to the plan. The building of national demographic database is scheduled for implementation from June to December 2013. Le Ha