Hanoi People's Council members are pictured working with iPad 2s at the legislative body's ongoing meeting in the capital.

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Hanoi lawmakers are trading in their meeting notes for iPad 2s.

In a cost-saving measure, the Hanoi People’s Council this month bought tablets for all 95 members, who find their new tools useful for reading, searching, and saving files.

“They don’t have to bring piles of documents that sometimes weigh several kilograms to meetings anymore,” council office chief Bui Duc Hieu said.

Le Van Hoat, vice chairman of the council, said the tablets work like real latops and prove very effective in exchanging information between the deputies and the council.

Officials hope less paperwork also means fewer costs. In Vienam, an iPad 2 runs from VND9.3 million (US$447) to VND16.2 million ($778).

“This will also help save substantial money for the city because it has had to spend hundreds of millions of dong to print documents for each meeting,” Hieu said.

He said having politicians scroll and tap away on their gadgets helps advance IT application and work efficiency under a council proposal.

The governing body had planned to buy laptops but switched to iPads for their convenience and price, Hieu added, saying it helped take the proposal’s total cost down to VND6.04 billion ($289,994) from VND6.75 billion ($324,082).

The council members must guard their devices and use them for work only during their 5-year term, Hoat, the vice chairman, said.