Public Policy Research and Training in Vietnam

1 Public PolicyResearch and Training in VietnamPublic PolicyResearchand Trainingin VietnamEdited byToru Hashimoto Stefan Hell Sang-Woo NamAsian Development BankInstituteHanoiDecember 2005 Asian Development Bank InstituteKasumigaseki Building, 8th Floor3-2-5 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-kuTokyo 100-6008, JapanTel: (81-3) 3593-5500 Fax: (81-3) 3593-5571 Email: 2005 Asian Development Bank InstitutePublishing Permit/GPXB164-54/XB-QLXB dated 30/11/2005 Pre-press, Film, and Production byKinh Bac Culture Joint-Stock Company, 16 Trung Liet, Hanoi, Vietnam Photograph by Toru views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views or position of the ADBI nstitute, its Advisory Council, Board of Directors, or the governments they ADB institute does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included and acceptsno responsibility for any consequences arising from its use.

2 The word country orother geographical names do not imply any judgment by ADB institute as to the legalor other status of any entity, including its of ContentsList of Abbreviations ..6 ForewordLe Dinh Tien ..12 ForewordPeter McCawley ..16 IntroductionToru Hashimoto, Stefan Hell, Sang-Woo Nam ..20 Think Tanks and Policy Advice in Countries in TransitionDiane L. Stone ..38 Vietnam 's Public Policy Research Institutions and TheirActivitiesNguyen Dinh Cung, Bui Van, Pham Hoang Ha ..110A View from Abroad: The Korean Experience in DevelopingPublic Policy ResearchJongryn Mo ..172 Public Policy Training in VietnamNguyen Dinh Tai ..214 Networks and International Cooperation of Public PolicyResearch and Training Institutions in VietnamDang Kim Son ..270 Contributors to this Volume and Speakers at Public PolicyRoundtable ..334 AbbreviationsADBA sian Development BankADBIAsia Development Bank InstituteAPECAsia Pacific Economic CooperationAPPCAsia Pacific Philanthropy ConsortiumAPSEGAsia Pacific School of Economics and Government(Australia)ASEANA ssociation of South East Asian NationsASEAN-ISISASEAN institute of Strategic and InternationalStudiesCICPC ambodian institute for Cooperation and PeaceCIEMC entral institute for Economic Management ( Vietnam )CMTARDC ollege for Management Training in Agricultural andRural Development ( Vietnam )CPSC entre for Policy Studies (Hungary)CSISC enter for Strategic and International Studies(Indonesia)DPPD emocratic Progressive Party (Taiwan)DSID evelopment Strategy institute ( Vietnam )EPBE conomic Planning Board (Korea)EUEuropean UnionFETPF ulbright Economics Teaching Program ( Vietnam )

3 GDNG lobal Development NetworkGSOG eneral Statistical Office ( Vietnam )HCMCHo Chi Minh CityHNPAHo Chi Minh National Political Academy ( Vietnam )HSPIH ealth Strategy and Policy institute ( Vietnam )IDRCI nternational Development Research CouncilIFRII nstitut Francais des Relations InternationalesIKIMI nstitut Kefahaman Islam MalaysiaILSSAI nstitute of Labor Science and Social Affairs ( Vietnam )6iNGOI nternational Non-governmental OrganizationIPSARDI nstitute of Policy and Strategy for Agricultural andRural Development ( Vietnam )IPSII ndustrial Policy and Strategy institute ( Vietnam )ISEASI nstitute for South East Asian Studies (Singapore)ISISI nstitute for Strategic and International Studies(Malaysia)ISOSI nstitute for State Organizational Sciences ( Vietnam )JCIEJ apan Center for International ExchangeJFPPTJ apan Fund for Public Policy TrainingJIIAJ apan institute of International AffairsKCESRIK orea Council of Economic and Social ResearchInstitutesKDIK orea Development InstituteKERIK orea Economic Research InstituteKIETK orea institute for Industrial Economics and TradeKMTK uomintang Party (Taiwan)LIPIL embaga Ilmu Pengetahuan IndonesiaMARDM inistry of Agriculture and Rural Development( Vietnam )MIERM alaysian institute for Economic ResearchMISPAM obilisation de l'Information au Service des PolitiquesAgricoles ( Vietnam )MOFM inistry of Finance ( Vietnam )MOFEM inistry of Finance and Economy (Korea)MOHM inistry of Health ( Vietnam )MOHAM inistry of Home Affairs ( Vietnam )MOIM inistry of Industry ( Vietnam )MOLISAM inistry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs( Vietnam )

4 MOSTM inistry of Science and Technology ( Vietnam )MPIM inistry of Planning and Investment ( Vietnam )MPTM inistry of Post and Telematics ( Vietnam )NAFOSTED National Foundation of Science and Technology Devel-opment ( Vietnam )NAPAN ational Academy of Public Administration ( Vietnam ) Public Policy Research and Training in Vietnam8 NEUN ational Economics University ( Vietnam )NGONon-governmental OrganizationNIESRN ational institute for Social and Economic Research (United Kingdom)NIRAN ational institute for Research Advancement (Japan)NIPTSN ational institute of Posts and Telematics Strategy( Vietnam )NISTPASSN ational institute for Science and Technology Policyand Strategy Studies ( Vietnam )NORADN orwegian Agency for Development CooperationNRIN omura Research institute (Japan)OECDO rganisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopmentPASOSP olicy Association for an Open SocietyPIDSP hilippine institute of Development StudiesPPRIP ublic Policy Research InstitutionRAPIDR esearch and Policy in Development (United Kingdom)

5 S&TScience and TechnologySIDAS wedish International Development AgencySIIAS ingapore institute of International AffairsSOEsState-owned EnterprisesTDRIT hailand Development Research InstituteTEIT hailand Environment InstituteTIERT aiwan institute of Economic ResearchUNDPU nited Nations Development ProgrammeUNIDOU nited Nations Industrial Development OrganisationUSAIDUS Agency for International DevelopmentVASSV ietnamese Academy of Social SciencesVASTV ietnamese Academy of Science and TechnologyVDFV ietnam Development ForumVERNV ietnam Economic Research NetworkWTOW orld Trade OrganizationPublic Policy Research and Training in Vietnam10 ForewordLe Dinh TienVice MinisterMinistry of Science & Technology of VietnamVietnam is currently going through a period of economic tran-sition and international integration - a process which is accom-panied by changes in Public administration and Public Policy , inorder to meet new demands arising from this transition andinternational integration.

6 In parallel with the bilateral and mul-tilateral negotiations to join the World Trade Organization(WTO), Vietnam is reforming its legal system and policies in aneffort to harmonize them with international regulations andagreements. This requires policymakers and their think-tanksfrom central to grassroots levels to acquire and apply new ana-lytical this transition, Research in Public Policy plays a vital rolein orienting strategy, identifying Policy issues, collecting infor-mation and building scientific foundations to support Policy , Public Policy Research in Vietnam has so far notbeen able to contribute to this transition in the best possible waydue to a number of factors; among them the lack of well-coordi-nated linkages between Public Policy Research institutes and pol-icy-making authorities, and the lack of coordination betweenpublic Policy Research institutes themselves as well as limitedskills of Research staff.

7 In addition, much of the Research done bythose institutes is too theoretical and impractical, thereby limit-ing on-time applicability of Research results to meet the demandof is also worth mentioning the weak linkages between publicpolicy Research institutes and Public Policy Training weak linkages not only prevent contributions from thetraining sector from reaching policymakers but also prevent theapplication of high-quality Research in Training programs. Infact, only a small number of Research results are being used intraining programs at all. Moreover, universities are not activelyparticipating in Research activities, particularly in Public policyresearch. At the same time, Public Policy Training lacks unifiedcurricula and Training methods, and formulation of Training con-tent is not arising from the new socio-economic context inVietnam require to reform and upgrade Public Policy researchand Training systems.

8 This book, entitled " Public Policy Researchand Training in Vietnam ", collects selected papers presented atthe Roundtable on "How to Strengthen Public Policy Researchand Training in Vietnam ". The Roundtable was organized by theAsian Development Bank institute 's Japan Fund for PublicPolicy Training (JFPPT), the National institute for Science andTechnology Policy and Strategy Studies (NISTPASS), CentralInstitute of Economic Management (CIEM) and institute forPolicy and Strategy of Agriculture and Rural Development(IPSARD) in Hanoi on 31 August 2005. The Roundtable has beenone of the first efforts to review systematically capacity of andlinkages among Public Policy Research , Training and Policy -mak-ing institutions in presented by Vietnamese researchers at theRoundtable gave detailed descriptions and provided reliableinformation on linkages among Public Policy Research , trainingand Policy -making institutions in Vietnam .

9 Papers by interna-tional researchers presented theoretical perspectives and empir-ical experiences on linkages between Research and Policy -makinginstitutions in countries under the transition process similar toVietnam. In particular, we may learn the successful lessons fromKorea, which show how Research - Policy linkages may contributeto strengthen economic growth and book is an excellent reference for policymakers, publicpolicy Research institutes and Training institutions in Vietnam ,all of which are involved in the process of reforming administra-tive system, building up capacity and strengthening Research - Policy hope this book will receive attention and feedback from pol-icymakers, managers and the Research communities in Vietnamand Policy Research and Training in Vietnam14 ForewordPeter McCawleyDeanAsian Development Bank InstituteThis book is a report from a high-level roundtable conferenceon Public Policy issues held in Hanoi in August 2005.

10 The confer-ence was organized by the Japan Fund for Public Policy Trainingprogram (JFPPT) in cooperation with three eminent Vietnamesethink tanks:zthe central institute for Economic Management;zthe National institute for Science and Technology Policyand Strategy Studies; and zthe institute of Agricultural Economics, since renamedthe institute of Policy and Strategy of Agricultural andRural and Training in Public Policy are crucial to supportdevelopment in Vietnam . The modernization of Vietnam 's econ-omy and society and continuing integration with regional andinternational structures require sound Public policies. Our hopeis that this report will be a useful contribution to the ongoingprocess of reform of Research and Training in the area of publicpolicy in roundtable on How to Strengthen Public Policy Re-search and Training in Vietnam brought together over 100 sen-ior government officials, researchers, and university representa-tives.