Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer witnessed the signing of an agreement Monday requiring 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 agreement 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 in a statement.

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

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