USAID/Vietnam Mission Director Ann Marie Yastishock speaks at the event.

While Vietnam is implementing its socio-economic strategy for the 2021-2030 period, substantial efforts have been made on capacity building for better governance at both national and provincial levels to improve the business environment in order to facilitate business investment and promote trade. USAID’s Vietnam Leads project, implemented by Indiana University, is supporting these efforts through improving professional development opportunities for local leaders, ensuring the transfer of policy know-how in managing a market economy, the private sector, and trade.

On July 13, the Vietnam Leads project together with the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics (HCMA), the primary institution for training the country’s civil service elite, organized the first, annual Local Development Dialogue in Hanoi. The event was attended by policy-makers from ministries, leaders of all 63 provinces/cities, CEOs of major corporations, and senior economists throughout the country to discuss the development initiatives and strategies of provinces. The participants discussed opportunities for local development in the new normal presented by COVID-19 and recommended measures to improve local governance and implementation of policies while utilizing digital transformation and green growth opportunities to overcome the epidemic and further development.

Through this support, USAID is helping enhance the capacity of Vietnam’s provincial government officials in making and executing new economic and social development plans to support market development, the private sector, and trade in the COVID-19 context.