Environmental Policy, Natural Resources and Urban Development
Viet Nam has diverse natural resources and is highly committed to preserving them. At the same time, Viet Nam's economy and cities are growing rapidly, causing many environmental problems. Balancing these ambitions poses new challenges to the country and its people, especially with a view to environmental and climate change impacts.
Germany and Viet Nam are focusing development cooperation in the Environmental sector on three areas, as follow:
First, activities aim at the restoring and sustainably managing natural resources through forestry management, biodiversity conservation and an establishment of innovative financing systems to maintain ecosystem services. The increasing importance of forests regarding CO2 -storage and adaptation to threats of climate change is reflected in many cooperation-projects – the so-called green sector.
Second, the two countries focus on urban development. Activities include the brown sector (solid waste disposal, waste water sewage).
Third, with a view to climate change, German activities in Viet Nam aim at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to curb global warming (mitigation) and at strengthening the resilience of the Vietnamese economy, people and ecosystems against the impacts of climate change (adaptation), for example by promoting renewable energies and energy efficiency.
Environmental Policy, Natural Resources and Urban Development project examples
Sustainable Economic Development and Vocational Training
Viet Nam has reached the status of a middle income country and its economy continues to grow fast. To ensure prolonged economic growth while maintaining a sustainable socio-economic development, Viet Nam seeks to improve its overall economic management as well as its regulatory framework with regards to development planning, public financing and the strengthening of the financial systems. Since 1993, Germany and Viet Nam cooperate successfully in this context. A Macroeconomic Reform Program aims at advancing necessary regulatory reforms and thus strengthen the capacity of selected institutions to perform core functions of market-oriented and social policy making and regulation. The Program links up with the efforts to tackle climate change by providing advice on the introduction of an environmental tax.
1.5 million young people enter into the Vietnamese labor market every year. In order to achieve and sustain inclusive economic growth, it is not enough to create a favorable institutional environment but it is important to extend vocational training services und to better adapt these services to the market needs. Skilled workers are needed in order for firms to be able to meet international quality standards and boost productivity and efficiency. Viet Nam has realized the pressing need for action as currently only a small part of the working population have received technical and vocational training. In the field of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Germany is a well-respected and sought-after partner for Viet Nam. Germany and Viet Nam are working closely together in order to reform the existing TVET system as a whole as well as modernize selected TVET institutions. These institutions should in future serve as models for TVET institutions nationwide, especially in terms of labor market relevant training offers, modular curricula and cooperation between schools and businesses.
Sustainable Economic Development and Vocational Training project examples
Health
Over the last fifteen years, the general level of health in Viet Nam has improved considerably. However growing urbanization, lifestyle changes and demographic shifts in the Vietnamese population have led to new challenges. Besides, especially disadvantaged population groups and members of ethnic minorities in remote regions have benefited relatively little from the general positive development in Viet Nam's health sector.
Since 1993, Germany and Viet Nam have worked successfully on the issues of malaria prevention, rehabilitation and education of people with disabilities, reproductive health/family planning, combating HIV/AIDS and supporting hospitals. Since significant improvements have been made and new challenges are emerging, current and future working areas of Germany and Viet Nam focus on strengthening provincial health systems and on feeding back the experiences from the provincial level into the national policy dialogue.
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