Enhancing the quality of industrial policy in Viet Nam: Sector competitiveness analysis and selection

Policymakers from several Vietnamese government ministries have attended a one-week training course on methodological tools for carrying out evidence-based analysis of sector competitiveness. The course considered different perspectives, including production, export, value addition, potential for spill-over effects over total economy, productivity and social factors related to employment, market dynamics, and competitors’ performance.

The “Capacity development for evidence-based industrial policy making in Vietnam – Sector competitiveness analysis and selection” training, run by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, kicked off in Ninh Binh on 13 August. The training was designed for key members of the Task Force Group responsible for the development of Vietnam’s industrial strategy 2030.

During the training, UNIDO experts worked with professionals from Ministries of Industry and Trade, Planning and Investment, Finance, Agriculture and Rural Development, Science and Technology and several associated think tanks and agencies in Viet Nam using analytical tools like the Competitive Industrial Performance (CIP) index and the Enhancing the Quality of Industrial Policy (EQuIP) toolkit to assess the performance of different manufacturing sub-sectors and how they contribute to the overall development of the country.

Speaking at the training, UNIDO industrial policy advisor, Andrea Antonelli, said, “We expect that through this training Vietnamese policymakers will get an in-depth conceptual understanding of several quantitative tools to measure sector level performance and to inform the sector selection process, including limitations, and will be able to individually carry out analysis using the set of tools and critically analyzing results. They will also gain the skills in using the required international databases to obtain data required for assessments and better understand different data classifications according to the selection criteria.”

Trang Quang Ha, Deputy Director General of Viet Nam’s Industrial Agency, Ministry of Industry and Trade, emphasized, “This workshop is very useful as it considers the objectives and priorities set by the Central Economic Commission following Resolution No.23 of the Party Central Committee dated March 22 2018, specifying the direction on formulating the national industrial development policy until 2030 with a vision towards 2045.”

According to Le Thi Thanh Thao, UNIDO Country Representative in Vietnam, the training is part of the project, “Support to the Government of Viet Nam in the formulation of Sub-Sector Industrial Strategy and of the related Implementation Policy through Institutional Capacity Building”, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea. The project aims to enhance the quality of Viet Nam’s industrial development strategy and policy through building institutional capacity, compiling industrial reports for the public and the private sector, and proposing concrete strategies and policies to enhance Viet Nam’s industrial competitiveness.

The workshop is the third of a series of capacity-building activities for Viet Nam’s industrial policymakers. The first workshop, organized earlier this year, conveyed some of the basic principles and outlined the benefits of evidence-based industrial policymaking. The second discussed challenges and opportunities associated with industry 4.0, discussing several case studies internationally, and bringing experts from Korea and South Africa to explain their countries’ current efforts.