GUIDEBOOKS TO
FRENCH COOPERATION IN VIETNAM
FRANCE-VIETNAM
COOPERATION
FACTS AND FIGURES
2007 Edition
Production of this guidebook was coordinated by
Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha,
Le Phuong Thao and
Véronique Saugues
Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Department (SCAC)
Embassy of France in Vietnam
Translated by David Rorke
Design and Printing
[email protected]
Guidebook N0. 1 - 2007 Edition
Foreword
Our first edition of “Facts and Figures” came out in 2003 as part of an informational series about French
cooperation in Vietnam. Our new edition herewith presents a broad overview of various achievements in the
framework of French cooperation with Vietnam in 2006.
I note that this cooperation is taking place in an increasingly dynamic and motivating context. The reform
efforts undertaken by the government of Vietnam are being rewarded with exemplary - sometimes even
spectacular - results as far as the country’s socio-economic development is concerned. The time is coming
closer when Vietnam will advance into the category of middle income countries, leading donors to take note
of what this growth means in terms of new partnership arrangements on an equal footing with Hanoi.
Meanwhile, the various harmonization processes instituted among aid providers or between them and the
Vietnamese authorities are gradually maturing. All are involved with conviction and seeking to work together
in response to the demand for greater aid effectiveness, in which the assessment of what has been
accomplished in relation to the amounts invested occupies an increasingly important place.
Although 2006 marked a new direction for the Vietnamese government and donors alike with the enactment
and submission of new strategic documents for official development assistance (ODA), 2007 is when these
documents are actually going to be put to use. In September 2006, France signed a Partnership Framework
Document (Document cadre de partenariat – DCP) 2006-2010.The aid commitments it announced for 2007 at
the Consultative Group meeting in December 2006 are fully in keeping with what it pledged in the partnership
document.
In this context, new projects are already being designed either to follow through on ongoing cooperation
initiatives or to upgrade or restructure our focus on priority issues to keep in step with the changes and growth
taking place in Vietnam.These new projects may be implemented starting in 2008 and will be covered in the
next edition of this brochure.
Let me conclude by reiterating here our commitment to pursue dialogue with all other donors and the
Vietnamese government at all existing levels and to make our contribution whenever the time is right, be it
for Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSC), the experiment with reform of the country’s operating system
(One UN in Vietnam), or the “EU-VN Masterplan” wherein France is steering the dialogue with Vietnam’s
Ministry of Justice.
To achieve this, France will first attempt to contribute to the European Union’s harmonization process and
ensure aid coordination in this framework,notably throughout France’s term at the chair in 2008.We trust that
this initiative will be successful with the help of all the other Member States.
Jean-François Blarel
Ambassador of France to Vietnam
3
Contents
Foreword ...................................................................................................................................
3
The France-Vietnam Partnership Framework .......................................................................... 6
Background in Vietnam ................................................................................................................
Vietnam’s Key Development Plans .................................................................................................
Figures for French Official Development Assistance (ODA) ...............................................................
Overview of International ODA in 2004-2007 .................................................................................
Operators and Instruments of French Aid ......................................................................................
Stopover of a French Naval Vessel at Da Nang ................................................................................
Stakeholders in Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation .................................................
French Assistance Priorities or Partnership Framework Document (DCP) ...........................................
6
7
9
10
11
14
18
19
I. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) .............................................................................. 20
Development of the Production Sector .................................................................................. 20
Support for Municipal Infrastructure Development (HCMC Investment Fund) ................................... 20
The SME Sector Development Program ......................................................................................... 21
4
Infrastructure Development .........................................................................................................
Support for Electricity Sector Development ....................................................................................
Civil Nuclear Facilities ..................................................................................................................
Urban Environment Upgrading - A Pilot Project in the Center Region ................................................
Access to Drinking Water in Urban Areas - The Mekong Delta Program .............................................
Natural Hazard Protection - Reinforcement of the Upstream Saigon River Banks ................................
Holistic Environmental Project for Hoi An .......................................................................................
Upgrading the Drinking Water Network in Ha Dong .......................................................................
National Center for Water Works and Environment Training (CNEE) ..................................................
Project for a Pilot Urban Rail Transit Line from Nhon to Hanoi Station ...............................................
Rail Transportation - A Key Pillar in French Economic Cooperation in Vietnam .....................................
Two Projects Marking the AFD’s First Involvement in the Transportation Sector - Hanoi Metro
and Hanoi-Lao Cai Railway ...........................................................................................................
22
22
22
24
24
25
25
26
26
27
28
Agriculture and Food Security .......................................................................................................
Support for the Phu Tho Tea Industry .............................................................................................
Rural Infrastructure in Ninh Thuan ................................................................................................
Exporting Vegetable and Fruit Produce from the Da Lat Region (PRCC) ..............................................
Support for the Framing of Agriculture Policies - MISPA Project ........................................................
SUSPER Project ............................................................................................................................
Agriculture Health Policy ..............................................................................................................
Agriculture and Rural Development Projects under Decentralized Cooperation ..................................
French Food Aid Counterpart Funds ..............................................................................................
29
29
30
30
31
32
33
34
38
28
Health and AIDS Prevention ......................................................................................................... 39
AIDS Prevention .......................................................................................................................... 39
Medico-social and Primary Health Care Projects ............................................................................. 40
Hospital Partnerships ................................................................................................................... 41
Institut Pasteur .......................................................................................................................... 42
Avian Influenza and Emerging Diseases ......................................................................................... 43
Avian Influenza Prevention: AVSF .................................................................................................. 43
Malaria Prevention ...................................................................................................................... 44
II. France’s Cross-cutting Priorities in Vietnam ........................................................................ 45
Elite Training and Scientific Research .............................................................................................
Major Directions of France’s Training Policy.....................................................................................
Delocalized Training Programs: A French University in Vietnam ........................................................
The PFIEV: A Training Program for Engineers of Excellence in Vietnam ...............................................
The France-Vietnam Center for Management Training (CFVG) .........................................................
Establishment of “CampusFrance Vietnam”....................................................................................
The Embassy’s Scholarship Programs ............................................................................................
Coaching the Vietnam Government’s Scientific Policy .....................................................................
The Priority Solidarity Fund “Support for Research on the Challenges of the Economic
and Social Transition in Vietnam”(FSP2S) .......................................................................................
Export Trade Capacity-Building:The PRCC ......................................................................................
Training in the Health Sector ........................................................................................................
45
45
45
46
47
48
49
51
54
55
56
Cultural Affairs and Francophony .................................................................................................. 57
L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center (CCF) and the French Cultural Network in Vietnam .................. 57
The IDECAF in Ho Chi Minh City .................................................................................................... 58
Francophony Month .................................................................................................................... 59
Cultural Affairs and Francophony .................................................................................................. 59
Courses Offered by L’Espace-CCF ................................................................................................... 60
Dissemination of the French Language .......................................................................................... 61
Cooperation in the Audiovisual Field .............................................................................................. 64
Skills Development Program for Vietnamese Journalists .................................................................. 65
Maintaining Cultural Diversity by Promoting Contemporary Creation
and Enhancement of Vietnam’s Heritage .......................................................................................
Cultural Diversity and Promotion of Contemporary Creation ............................................................
France a Central Figure in Festivals in Vietnam ................................................................................
Support for Cultural Development in Vietnam ................................................................................
Enhancing Vietnam’s Museographical Heritage .............................................................................
Multilateral Cultural Cooperation ..................................................................................................
The Nguyen Van Vinh Publishing Aid Program (PAP) ........................................................................
Giving Prominence to the Written Word in Southeast Asia ...............................................................
Media Center Plan .......................................................................................................................
66
66
68
69
70
71
71
72
73
Governance and the Rule of Law ...................................................................................................
Cooperation in the Legal Field and the Vietnamese-French House of Law ..........................................
Administrative Reform in Vietnam ................................................................................................
Modernizing the Notarial Profession in Vietnam .............................................................................
Budgetary Reform .......................................................................................................................
Microfinance Cooperation ............................................................................................................
Coaching the Economic Transition .................................................................................................
Fund for Expertise and Capacity Building No. 1 (FERC1) .....................................................................
74
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation ........................................................................ 81
France-Vietnam Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation ................................................ 81
Project Database for France-Vietnam Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation ................... 83
5
Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m
Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k
The France-Vietnam Partnership
Framework
Background in Vietnam
With a population of 82 million people and still
highly dependent on its agricultural tradition,
Vietnam has gradually moved toward globalization
and to a “socialist-oriented”market economy based
on the ßÊi mÌi (Renewal) policy it has been
following since 1986.
With its national identity founded on a strong ethnic
homogeneity (85 percent Kinh), Vietnam has
successfully embarked on its integration into the
international financial and economic community
that began with the signing of a trade and
cooperation agreement with the European
Community in 1995 and, more importantly, when it
became a member of ASEAN in the same year,
climaxed with its entry into the World Trade
Organization (WTO) on January 12, 2007. After
enacting several laws crucial to the country’s
transition into a market economy, including the Law
on Businesses and the Law on Foreign Investment in
2005, Vietnam continued its efforts to round out its
legal slate in this area with the enactment of 11 laws
in late 2006, notably the law respecting the
technology market, the law on fiscal management
which will enable the country to comply with the
commitments made in the WTO framework, along
with the notary law which will increase the level of
guarantee in real estate transactions.
Along with the rapid internationalization of its
economy, Vietnam is experiencing one of the
strongest economic growth rates in the world,with a
yearly average of 7 percent since 1997. The figure
reached 8.5 percent in 2005 and 8.2 percent in 2006.
6
Poverty has been reduced markedly (58.1 percent
in 1993, 26 percent in 2006) and the standard of
living is improving very quickly. The per capita GDP
doubled in 10 years to its current level of US$ 688.
The international community feels that this
country could quite easily join the group of middle
income countries between 2010 and 2012, and
the government of Vietnam itself has indicated
that its objective is to achieve a per capita GDP of
US$ 1,000 by 2010.
Nevertheless, the country is faced with several major
challenges, particularly on the socio-economic level:
maintaining sustainable economic growth, making
a successful transition from a society in which the
majority of members live in rural areas to a society
that is more urbanized, stemming the growth of
social and ethnic inequalities, and finding new
horizons for its large number of young people
(1.4 million youths arrive on the labor market each
year). It must also sort out its public finance, find and
put in place regulatory measures for its economy
(such as the banking and stock market systems,
energy markets and new information technologies),
improve the investment environment and “equitize”
State-owned enterprises.
It must also succeed as quickly as possible in reforming its public administration: streamline its
bloated public service, bring about transparency in
working procedures, reduce State centralization by
delegating certain powers to the provinces and
introduce e-government.
Summary Table of Vietnam’s Economy 1986-2005
GNP breakdown (%)
- Agriculture
- Industry
- Services
GNP growth (%)
- Agriculture
- Industry
- Services
Labor breakdown (%)
- Agriculture
- Industry
- Services
Export breakdown (%)
- Agriculture
- Industry
Growth of agriculture exports (%)
Yearly average rice exports
(in 1000s of tons)
1986-1990
100.0
41.1
25.4
33.5
4.9
2.6
3.2
7.8
1991-1995
100.0
30.1
28.1
41.8
8.8
4.6
13.1
8.9
1996-2000
100.0
25.7
33.5
40.8
6.4
4.4
9.7
4.9
2001-2005
100.0
22.1
39.7
38.2
7.7
4.0
10.2
7.2
73.0
11.0
16.0
72.0
11.3
16.7
69.5
11.8
18.7
61.0
15.9
23.1
56.7
43.3
48.9
51.1
34.8
65.2
26.1
73.9
21.2
612
23.4
1,734
8.1
3,656
17.5
4,016
Source: National Statistics Office (2006)
Note:
- The term “agriculture”is used in its broad meaning and includes agriculture, sylviculture and aquaculture.
- Between 1989 and 2005,Vietnam exported over 50 million tons of rice; the average annual growth rate is
8.8 percent.
Vietnam’s Key Development Plans
Sectoral development plans contributed to the successful achievement of Vietnam’s 2001-2005 Five Year Socioeconomic Development Plan (see Background in Vietnam). For the 2006-2010 period,several national sectoral
strategies and plans round out the Five Year Socio-economic Development Plan (SEDP):
Strategies:
- The Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS), an overarching strategy adopted in
May 2002,comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI). It has now been
worked into the SEDP 2006-2010 and into the annual plans of the provinces of Vietnam.
- Vietnam’s ODA Strategic Framework was enacted on December 29, 2006 under a regulation of the Prime
Minister.The MPI is now preparing the implementation document.
- Vietnam’s Sustainable Development Strategy (Agenda 21) is being coordinated by the MPI.This is to ensure
the harmonious development of three sectors: economic growth, social development and environmental
protection. In 2006, the priorities for Agenda 21 were identified.
- The National Strategy for Transportation aims to develop transportation infrastructure to meet the socioeconomic development needs and enhance links with China. The amount of investment necessary is
estimated at VND 361,439 billion.
- The National Strategy for Environmental Protection to 2010 and Directions to 2020 is under the jurisdiction
of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE). The objectives to be reached by 2010
include: 100 percent of new production units are equipped with clean technologies or waste processing
equipment;50 percent of production units obtain the environmental certificate or the ISO 14001 certificate;
7
Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m
Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k
Vietnam’s Key Development Plans (cont’d)
-
-
30 percent of households and 70 percent of companies have waste sorting tools;80 percent of public places
are equipped with waste disposal containers; 40 percent of built-up areas and 70 percent of industrial and
free trade zones have a waste processing system.
The National Strategy for Water Resources to 2020 is intended to protect the said resources and allow for
their efficient exploitation for sustainable development.
The Forestry Development Strategy for 2006-2020 was approved on February 2, 2007 by the Prime
Minister.Its objective is to manage,develop and sustainably use 16.2 million ha of forest land;increase forest
cover to 42-43 percent by 2010 and to 47 percent by 2020; achieve a growth rate of 3.5 to 4 percent a year
and a share of 2 to 3 percent of the GDP.
The National Strategy for HIV/AIDS Control to 2010 and Directions to 2020 is intended to bring the number
of HIV/AIDS carriers down to less than 0.3 percent of the population by 2010, then by 2020 and also cut
down on the negative impacts of this pandemic on Vietnam’s socio-economic development.To this end,an
annual budget of VND 100 billion is planned, rounded out by an equivalent sum from international
organizations.
Plans and Programs:
- The SEDP for 2006-2010 is accompanied by an annual plan updated on a yearly basis.
- The Public Investments Plan (PIP) prepared by the MPI catalogues investment projects under State funding
that are included in the country’s development plans.
- The National Program for Foreign NGO Assistance for 2006-2010 prepared and implemented by the
People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM) is intended to provide a legal framework for the activities
of international NGOs in Vietnam. Priority is given to agriculture, rural development, health and training,
as well as localities suffering from need, especially poor provinces and mountain provinces where large
populations of ethnic minorities live.
- The Land Administration Development Plans, coordinated by the MONRE and started in October 2005,
aims to streamline land administration in Vietnam. It has a price tag estimated at US$ 500 M.
- The National Poverty Alleviation Program for 2006-2010, in follow up to Program 143 conducted by the
Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLISA),has the goal of reducing the number of destitute households
to 10-11 percent by 2010 compared to 22 percent in 2005.With a budget of VND 43,490 billion, it includes
new projects and activities such as instruction for the poor, assistance for infrastructure investment in
communes experiencing particular difficulties, border areas and island territories. Policies for legal
assistance, supervision and analysis are also planned.
- Phase 2 of Program 135 will be implemented in over 1,600 communes in order to stamp out recurrent food
shortages and reduce the rate of poor households to less than 30 percent.
- The National Clean Water and Environmental Cleanliness Program for Rural Areas for 2006-2010 is the
application of the strategy bearing the same name for 2000-2020. The stated objectives for 2010 are:
85 percent of rural communities have access to clean water; 70 percent of rural households have sanitary
latrines;70 percent of families practicing animal husbandry have sheds that meet sanitation standards;all
kindergartens, schools, infirmaries, commune offices and public buildings have access to clean water and
sanitary latrines; minimize pollution in manufacturing villages, especially where food processing is done.
- The Master Plan for the Planning and Development of Industries in Territorial Zones for 2006-2010 and
Directions to 2020. Vietnam is divided into 6 zones wherein certain industry concentrations are
recommended based on their individual comparative advantages.The purpose of this plan is to achieve an
annual industrial growth rate of 15-16 percent by 2010, thus giving it a 37-38 percent share of the GDP by
2010 and 45 percent by 2020.
- The Proposal for Export Development is looking at evening out Vietnam’s trade balances by 2010 and
reaching a growth rate of 17.5 percent, or a turnover of US$ 72.5 billion. The highest rated products are
cutting-edge industrial and technological (54 percent). The targeted export market share in decreasing
order is: Asia (45 percent), America (24 percent), Europe (23 percent), Oceania (5 percent) and other
(3 percent).
8
-
The Master Plan for Sea Products Development to 2010 has set its objective on achieving an annual growth
rate of 3.8 percent; an annual export growth of 10.63 percent; 1.5 to 2 million tons of sea-caught fish and 2
million tons of farmed seafood a year; 4.7 million workers in the industry.
Other programs:
- The Public Administration Reform (PAR) program under the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs
(MOHA).
- The Legal and Judiciary Reform Program implemented by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the People’s
Supreme Court, the Supreme Public Prosecutor and the National Assembly of Vietnam.
These programs have been operating since the early 1990s.
Figures for French Official Development
Assistance (ODA)
France’s Place in Official Development
Assistance in Vietnam
Total ODA to Vietnam pledged for 2007 is US$ 4.446
billion (up 18.9 percent compared to 2006).The three
main donors to Vietnam are now the Asian Development Bank with 25.65 percent of total aid,
followed by Japan (20.02 percent) and the World
Bank (20 percent). France has been in fourth place in
this group for several years now, and its assistance
accounts for 8 percent of all ODA in 2007.
underway (PGAE, EU, UN, major development
banks) are spotlighting the exercise of social and
economic planning in assistance offered to the
government of Vietnam.
French ODA has the following features:
-
Generally speaking, international aid to Vietnam has
the following characteristics:
-
-
-
-
9
Its volume: Vietnam continues to be one of the
foremost beneficiaries of ODA (US$ 4.446 billion
pledged for 2007; 3.74 for 2006, representing
between 7 and 10 percent of the country’s GDP).
The large number of donors: 49 bi- and multilateral donors, and approximately 500 NGOs
grouped as one entity.
The size of loans compared to grants: about 67.6
percent of the total.
The relative rate of aid absorption within the
planned time frames, the average being 60
percent, but with an improvement noted.
A strong trend to seek aid efficiency as a follow-up
to the High-Level Forum in Paris and the New York
Summit. The harmonization processes now
-
-
-
The presence of all operators in the French
cooperation mechanism (Agence française de
développement, Cooperation and Cultural Affairs
Department, economic mission, ADETEF).
For several years now, French ODA continued to
increase although its share in Vietnam’s overall
ODA has lessened due to the rapid upswing in aid
volume. This changed in 2005 with a strong
upsurge in aid.
Our aid comes in the form of grants (approximately 15 percent), most of it being made up of
loans from the Emerging Nations Reserve Fund
(Réserve Pays Émergents - RPE) or channeled
through the AFD.
Disbursements were at a level of about 69.1
percent for 2000-2005, although dropping to 34
percent in 2006 (27 percent in 2005).
The base for implementation of approximately
one-third of our ODA is in France itself in the form
of technical assistance management, the provision of training to Vietnamese students in
France, research programs and through decentralized cooperation arrangements.
Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m
Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k
Disbursements of French Official Development Assistance 2001-2006 (in millions of euros)
Funds disbursed by French Embassy
MINEFI
ADETEF
AFD (loans)
AFD (gifts)
AFD (PROPARCO)
SCAC (annual budget)
SCAC (FSP)
Funds disbursed in France (est.)
MAE/MCNG
Other MAE
MNERY (500 scholarship holders)
CNRS
CIRAD
IRD
Territorial communities
Other line ministries
Total ODA
Grand total (including PROPARCO)
Breakdown by value
Nature
Gifts
Loans
Breakdown by percentage
Nature
Gifts
Loans
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
20.1
0.7
30.1
0.5
0.0
6.5
1.6
26.2
0.7
37.7
0.5
4.1
5.8
1.0
23.5
1.0
36.9
1.8
20.8
5.0
2.0
16.491
0.68
44.66
0
8.1
3.776
3.970
4.325
0.6
37,44
0,89
13*
5.156
5.5
12.985
0.59
52.44
0.75
0
3.595
3.227
1.0
0.3
5.0
1.0
2.5
1.0
2.0
0.2
72.5
72.5
1.0
0.6
5.0
1.0
3.0
1.0
2.0
0.2
85.7
89.8
1.0
1.0
5.0
1.0
3.0
1.0
2.0
0.2
84.4
105.2
1.259
1.0
1.925
1.0
3.0
1.0
2.0
0.2
80.961
89.061
1.0
1.0
32
1.0
3.0
1.0
2.0
0.2
95.111
174.125
1
1
32
1.0
3.0
1.0
2.0
0.2
114.787
114.787
22.3 (22.2)
50.1(50.2)
21.8
63.8 (63.9)
23.2 (24)
60.8 (60,4)
19.81
61.151
52.456
109.325
49.362
65.425
31%
69%
25%
75%
28%
72%
24.5%
75.5%
32.4 %
67.6 %
43%
57%
* Estimated PROPARCO disbursements
Overview of International ODA 2004-2007
10
Source:World Bank. Donor Consultative Group meetings
Operators and Instruments of French Aid
Cooperation and Cultural Affairs
Department (Service de coopération et
d’action culturelle – SCAC)
The Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Department
(SCAC) is the focal point of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (Ministère des Affaires étrangères - MAE) for
cooperation issues. Under the aegis of the Ambassador, its mission involves the strategic steering of
France’s official development assistance (ODA). It has
a central unit in Hanoi with a staff base of about
20 expatriate officers and 30 technical assistants,along
with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hue and three
cultural centers (Da Nang,Nha Trang and Can Tho).
The SCAC manages the cooperation programs set up
with the Vietnamese line ministries. Working solely
on the basis of grant assistance, it receives annual
allocations from the MAE, which include funding
packages from the Priority Solidarity Fund (Fonds de
solidarité prioritaire - FSP). It brings in the resident
technical assistance necessary for the deployment
of projects and programs placed under it. In 2006,
allocations to the Embassy amounted to € 4.5
million, while € 3.32 million was spent in the
framework of 16 FSP projects for a total outstanding
amount of € 32 million.
Starting in 2006, the SCAC mission has been
concentrating on the Organic Law of the Finance Law
(Loi organique de la loi de finances - LOLF) and the
Partnership Framework Document, signed in
September 2006 between the two governments,
which sets forth the new strategic directions of
French cooperation.
In this framework, based on the promotion of France’s
cultural and scientific outreach as well as solidarity with
regard to developing countries, the SCAC will assume
responsibility for and direction of the cross-cutting
priorities of French cooperation: good governance and
strengthening the rule of law,provision of elite training
and promoting research, outreach of francophony and
defense of cultural diversity.
The Economic Missions
(Missions Économiques – ME)
11
The Economic Missions represent the French Ministry
of Economy, Finance and Industry (Ministère de
l’Économie, des Finances et de l’Industrie – MINEFI) in
Vietnam.They play a role of economic diplomacy and
support French corporate activities on the
Vietnamese market. Each ME has within it a number
of teams of French and local experts (trade officers),
all specializing in a particular function (economic
observation,multilateral issues,etc.) or in a particular
sector (agribusiness, telecommunications, transportation, energy, consumer goods, health). They act as
relays between the public network supporting
international interchange that, in addition to the
Directorate of the Treasury and Economic Policy
(Direction générale du Trésor et de la Politique économique - DGTPE) in Paris, also includes Regional
Foreign Trade Directorates (Directions régionales du
commerce extérieur - DRCE), information agencies
(Agence française pour le développement international - UBIFRANCE]) and insurance agencies
(Compagnie française d’assurance pour le commerce
extérieur - COFACE).
The Economic and Trade Department of the French
Embassy in Vietnam is located in two sites, both
headed by the Economic Missions chief headquartered in the Hanoi office. The economic mission
deals with sectors that are countrywide in scope,
such as agriculture, fisheries, the food-processing
industry, transportation, infrastructure, aeronautics
and space, automobile, new information technologies and communication, audiovisual, energy,
water and the environment, mines, heavy industry,
financial services, as well as legal, economic and
intellectual property issues. It is also in charge of all
matters involving economic diplomacy and multilateral negotiations affecting Vietnam (WTO,ASEAN).
The Ho Chi Minh City office deals with sectors that
are countrywide in scope involving consumer goods,
leather, the textile industry, pharmaceuticals, health,
chemistry, real estate, distribution and tourism.
The French Development Agency (Agence
française de développement – AFD)
The AFD has been working in Vietnam since 1993.
The total amount of net official development assistance commitments made by the AFD to Vietnam
reached € 751 million at the close of 2006 and covered
37 projects, programs or credit lines. The assistance is
made available mostly in the form of loans,although a
limited number of grants can be mobilized for project
Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m
Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k
preparation and for capacity building activities linked
to the projects or programs under funding.
The AFD’s initial terms of reference focused more
particularly on rural development. Its expanded task
environment now hinges on three pillars: modernization of agriculture and rural areas, urban and
network infrastructure and financial sector development. These three pillars reflect the priorities
contained in the Partnership Framework Document
signed between France and Vietnam in 2006 for the
operational tools available to the AFD.
The AFD’s “live” portfolio at the close of 2006
(funding committed for operations that have not yet
been completed), with a breakdown according to
sector, is shown in “Summary Table of AFD Disbursements in 2006”.This table also shows funding from
“French Fund for the Global Environment” (Fonds
Français pour l’Environnement Mondial – FFEM) as
well as the Fund for Building Trade Capacity (Fonds de
Renforcement des Capacités Commerciales – FRCC)
that the AFD is managing for the French authorities.
The AFD is sharing in the process of improving aid
efficiency through is involvement in the “Group of
Five Banks”,which brings together the AFD, the Asian
Development Bank, the World Bank, the JBIC (Japan)
and the KfW (Germany).
The Center for Financial,Economic and Banking Studies
(Centre d’études financières, économiques et bancaires CEFEB), a training department run by the AFD Group,
has a steady flow of students from Vietnam (nearly
forty to date) who receive training designed for senior
management staff holding positions in the public,
private banking or financial sectors.
PROPARCO is a branch of the AFD specializing in
financing private businesses. It has been active in
Vietnam since a core agreement was signed on June
14,2001 with the State Bank of Vietnam.Its purpose is
to promote the private sector in Vietnam, giving
special consideration to three intervention areas:
modernizing the financial system and structuring of
long-term savings as a tool of productive investment;
coaching the capital development effort of Vietnam
in the field of infrastructure;corporate financing with
priority given to export-driven businesses.PROPARCO
provides assistance in the form of mid- and longterm hard loans or by equity capital inputs to
beneficiary private businesses.
12
Assistance for the Development of
Economic and Financial Technology
Exchanges (Assistance au développement des échanges en technologies
économiques et financières – ADETEF)
In Vietnam, the ADETEF has the status of a nongovernmental organization registered with the
People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM). In
France it comes under a public interest group (Groupe
d’intérêt public – GIP) made up of the government,the
Deposit and Consignment Office (Caisse des dépôts et
consignations), the French Development Agency, the
École nationale supérieure des mines in Paris and the
Group of Telecommunications Schools.
It came to Vietnam in 1993 to provide technical
assistance in groundwork for the Club de Paris
meeting on Vietnam. From a project office located
on the premises of the Ministry of Finance working
mainly in training activities, ADETEF Vietnam
became a venue for carrying out conventional cooperation activities (organizing seminars, training
sessions and missions; commissioning and directing various studies, translating and publishing
reference works, etc.) as well as handling certain
more novel initiatives such as the France-Vietnam
Economic and Financial Forum.
It works on cooperation projects on behalf of the
Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry (MINEFI),
as well as the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Its activities are carried out in close coordination with
the French cooperation apparatus. It works on behalf
of the SCAC in implementing projects funded through
the Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP), which comes under
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The ADETEF is currently working in Vietnam with such
entities as the Ministry of Finance (taxation, customs,
public accounting, inspection, domains, etc.), the
Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of
Trade, the National Committee for International
Economic Cooperation,the State Bank of Vietnam,the
National Assembly and the General Statistics Office.
Cooperation in the Area of Defense
General framework
Our cooperation with Vietnam in the area of defense
started about a decade ago, focusing initially on
Key initiatives
The budget for military and defense cooperation with
Vietnam amounted to nearly € 500,000 in 2006 and
was used in carrying out the following activities:
military medicine - which remains a major pillar in
our partnership - and on museography. Since then,
this cooperation has been expanded considerably
and diversified. Such things as training of military
elite, visits of French Navy ships, exchanges of delegations, General staff annual meetings and Security
dialogue have been added to our list of cooperation
activities with Vietnam.
France is the firstWestern country to have formalized
a bilateral relationship in this area, with the appointment of a defense attaché followed by the signature
of an agreement between the two Ministries of
Defense in 1997.
Training of Vietnamese officers in France:
• 1 senior officer at the Joint War College (Collège
Interarmées de Défense - CID) in Paris.
• 3 student officers at Saint-Cyr Military academy
(Coëtquidan) and 1 in an Army branch specialization school.
• 2 naval officers in their Professional Master
program at the Brest Naval Academy.
Three special memoranda were signed in order to
formalize our exchanges in the framework of Army
health services, including actual training in military
hospitals and malaria prevention.
Military medicine:
• One-year specialized internships in France for
Vietnamese military doctors (intestinal surgery,
orthopedics and traumatology, digestive system
pathologies, etc.).
• Malaria prevention project: malaria prevention
research mission in Binh Phuoc province, with a
gift of equipment worth over € 50,000.
A draft intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the area of defense is now being prepared
and will be discussed in the near future between the
two parties. The purpose is to institutionalize our
relationship in this area to a greater extent.
Conferences and international seminars:
• Invitation for Vietnamese auditors to attend the
international sessions of the Institute of Higher
National Defense Studies (Institut des hautes
études de défense nationale - IHEDN).
An annual General staff meeting provides an
opportunity to review the ongoing and future
initiatives in the realm of military cooperation. This
meeting is held alternately in France and Vietnam.
The last such meeting took place in Hanoi in May
2007.
Security dialogue is also gradually developing
between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and
Defense of both countries in order to build exchanges
on strategic issues.
13
French-language instruction in the military:
• French courses given in Hanoi by two Master
trainees in “French as a foreign language”.
• Preparation of young Vietnamese officers for the
Saint-Cyr Special Military Academy entrance
examination (AGIR mission).
• Internships for French trainers: in France at the
Rochefort International French Course (for
3 Vietnamese teachers) and in Vietnam under
an AGIR mission (for 20 teachers).
Other initiatives relating to defense
French Navy visits:
• Visit of the “VAR”command and supply ship at Da
Nang from September 25 to 29, 2006. On board
was the Flag Officer of the Indian Ocean Maritime
Zone (ALINDIEN).
• Stopover of the helicopter carrier “Jeanne d’Arc”
and the frigate “Georges Leygues” at Hai Phong
from February 5 to 9, 2007, with the arrival of the
Flag Officer of the Pacific Ocean Maritime Zone
(ALPACI) and a delegation from the Brest Urban
Community.
Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m
Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k
Delegations and official visits:
• Visit by General Wolsztynski, Chief of Staff of the
French Air Force, in Vietnam (March 2006).
• Study trip to Vietnam by the Collège Interarmées
de Défense (Hanoi-Dien Bien Phu-Hue-Ho Chi
Minh City, from April 22 to 28, 2007).
Support to defense industries:
Accompaniment of Vietnamese delegations attending
the EUROSATORY and EURONAVAL shows (June and
October 2006).
Technical expertise:
Trip to France by a delegation of French border guards
for a study mission on cooperation in the field of dog
training (June 2006).
Memory and heritage:
Attendance by a Vietnamese delegation led by the
chairman of the War Veterans’ Association at the
International Days of Shared Memory held in Paris
by the Vice-Minister in charge of War Veterans
(October 2006).
Prospects and new challenges
Hydrography and government initiatives on the sea:
The Vietnamese authorities would like to develop
their hydrographic department and are considering
membership in the International Hydrographic
Organization (IHO). Means by which France may be
able to provide support or coaching in partnership
with the French National Navy and the Navy’s
Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department are
being studied.
Advice in the area of peacekeeping operations:
With a view to Vietnam’s applying for a seat as a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security
Council and the country’s possible involvement in
peacekeeping operations, France is offering its
expertise in this area to the People’s Army of Vietnam.
The diversification and expansion of cooperation in
the realm of defense between Vietnam and France
are a concrete reflection of the quality of the
relationship that now exists between the two
countries.
For more information:
Lt-Colonel Yves Rols,
Defense Attaché to the Embassy of France in Hanoi
Email: [email protected]
Stopover of a french naval vessel at da nang
The “VAR” command and supply ship with the Flag Officer of the
Indian Ocean Maritime Zone (ALINDIEN) on board stopped over in
Da Nang from September 25 to 28,2006.The ship was met by the
Ambassador of France, the defense attaché and leading local civil
and military authorities.The jurisdiction covered by ALINDIEN will
soon be extended to Vietnam and the South China Sea (or East
China Sea), so this visit was an opportunity to establish new
contacts in view of strengthening French-Vietnamese relations in
the area of defense. In addition to inter-army relations with
countries bordering the zone,the key missions of ALINDIEN are the
prevention of illicit trafficking and terrorism, as well as the
protection of our nationals and French interests in the zone.
14
For more information:
Lt-Colonel Yves Rols,
Defense Attaché to the Embassy of France in Hanoi
Email: [email protected]
Overview of the Ongoing FSP Portfolio as of January 1, 2007
Project
Project title
No.
2000-033 Training of public prosecutors and
promotion of law in Southeast Asia
2000-105 Support for the setting up of a
training center for Vietnamese
journalists
2000-107 Hanoi Center for Industrial Maintenance Training
2000-131 Support for the development
of French-language teaching in
Vietnam
2000-148 Support for Vietnam’s integration
into international trade
2001-17
2001- 019
2001- 025
2001-050
2001-100
2001-111
2002-056
2003-027
2001-042
2002-125
Mobilization of information to
support agriculture policies
Support for development of the
National Center for Water and Environment Training
Support to cultural development in
Vietnam
Support for the development of
training programs for high-level
engineers in Vietnam II
Training for education inspectors and
senior management in Vietnam
Characterization and enhancement
of wild and domestic animal biodiversity in mountainous regions of
northern Vietnam
Support for Vietnamese government
streamlining in economic governance
Support for modernization of the
notarial profession in Vietnam
Synergy
Giving prominence to the written
word in Southeast Asia
2003-029 Support for research on the
challenges of socio-economic
transition in Vietnam
2004-023 Enhancement of Vietnam’s museographical heritage
2006-16 French University Poles (PUF)
15
Start date
End date
Amount
in K€
Nov. 29, 2000 Dec. 30, 2006 762
Status
Concluded
Oct. 30, 2002 Dec. 13, 2006
915
Final year
Oct. 30, 2002 Aug. 19, 2006
2,668
Concluded
May 31, 2001 Aug. 31, 2009
1,982
Ongoing
Oct. 30, 2002 Sept. 12, 2007
1,677
Oct. 22, 2001 July 10, 2006
Final year
(extension being
requested)
1,500 Transferred to the
AFD on Jan. 1, 2006
1,000
Concluded
June 6, 2003 June 30, 2007
1,400
Final year
Sept. 13, 2002 Dec. 30, 2007
2,600
Final year
Oct. 30, 2002 Dec. 24, 2005
1,700
Concluded
May 14, 2003 Mar. 31, 2008
1.700
Ongoing
Jan. 23, 2003 Nov. 14, 2007
2,000
Final year
Aug. 14, 2003 Apr. 22, 2008
1,550
Ongoing
Feb. 28, 2003 July 31, 2007
413
Apr. 24, 2003 Dec. 13, 2007
327
Oct. 7, 2004 May 7, 2009
1,700
Final year
(extension being
requested)
Final year
(extension being
requested)
Ongoing
Oct. 7, 2004 Mar. 7, 2008
1,670
Ongoing
May 15, 2006 May 15, 2009
3,000
Ongoing
May 17, 2002 Aug. 25, 2006
Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m
Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k
Breakdown of ongoing funding from the DGTPE (RPE and FASEP studies) in Vietnam
(€ 368.97 million as of April 25, 2007)
Northern Vietnam: telecoms
RPE 2000 - rural tel.- € 10,3 M
Yen Bai: health
RPE 1996 - hospital - € 0,61 M
Ha Dong: water
RPE 2001 - netwook - € 2,29 M
Vinh: health
RPE 1995 - hospital - € 0,61 M
Thai Nguyen: water
RPE 1998 - waste water - € 15,85 M
Yen Vien - Lao Cai:
rail transport
RPE 2007 - track - € 31 M
Hai Phong: health
RPE 1995 - hospital - € 0,76 M
RPE 1995 - gynecology - € 0,76 M
Hanoi: transit, health
RPE 1995 - hospital - € 0,76 M
RPE 2006 - subway - € 200 M
Hanoi - Vinh:
rail transport
RPE 2004 - signaling - € 9,7 M
RPE 2005 - signaling - € 40,3 M
Hoi An :Water, environment RPE
2001 – water/waste € 8.84 M
Countrywide projects:
Aeronautics
RPE 1995 – Civil Aviation
Training Center – € 4.57 M
RPE 2003 – Avionics equipment
test bench – € 2.74
Remote sensing
RPE 2003 – Environmental
resources monitoring system –
€ 119.38 M
HCMC : Urban development RPE
2004 – Street lighting – € 4.5 M
Vung Tau :Water REP 1999 –
Waste water – € 16 M
RPE (Emerging Nations Reserve) –
Subsidized loans with grant
component
FASEP Studies –
Subsidized studies
16
Summary Table of AFD Disbursements in 2006
Loans
Commit
-ment
year
1997
1999
1999
2000
2001
2001
2002
2002
2002
2002
2002
2003
2003
2003
2003
2004
2004
2004
2004
2004
2005
2005
2005
2005
2005
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
2006
Reference
Purpose
AFD transactions, own source account
CVN 1024.01 B
Village rubber plantations
CVN 1046 01 F
Upgrading 4 skills development centers
CVN 1045 01
Rubber development 8 companies
CVN1021 01 Y
Mekong Delta rural electrification
CVN1061
Structuring operations in Red River Basin
CVN 1064 01 F
AEP 5 provinces south and center
CVN 1078 01 L Project for financial and institutional capacity
building of VBARD - VBARD 3 PCO
CVN 1078 02 M Project for financial and institutional capacity
building of VBARD - VBARD 3 PTC
CVN 1075 01H
FSPL 2 PS1 (2nd institutional program in nonbank financial sector)
CVN 1075 02 J
FSPL 2 PTC (2nd institutional program in
financial non-bank financial sector)
CVN 1083
Fund for project studies and preparation No. 3
(FEPP 3)
CVN1068
Water resources in Phuoc Hoa -PS1
CVN1068
Water resources in Phuoc Hoa – PTC
CVN3000 01 X
Urban environment center region - PS1
CVN3000 02 Y
Urban environment center region – PTC
CVN1054
Phu Tho tea
CVN1054
Phu Tho tea
CVN1073
Ninh Thuan
CVN3005 01C
SME development program
CVN3005 02 D
SME development program
CVN1074
Son La
CVN1079 01M
Credit line for Mekong Housing Bank (MHB)
CVN1079 02 N
MHB capacity building project
CVN6001 01
Electricity transmission North
CVN3007
Credit line for HCMC
(Municipal Investment Fund)
CVN3014
MISPA
CVN3001
Hanoi subway
CVN6006 01
Yen Vien - Lao Cai railway
CVN3013 01
Mekong urban drinking water program
CVN6008 01
Saigon River
CVN3016 01E
CPIM
CVN6007
HCMC Municipal Investment Fund capacity
building project
CVN6005
Fund for studies and capacity building No. 1
(FERC 1)
17
(Euros, millions)
Grants
Total
Pledged Remit- Pledged Remit- Pledged Remitted
ted
ted
2006
2006
2006
593.31 52.11
15.24 0.01
12.80 0.04
35.00 2.87
19.00 5.35
35.00 4.64
12.36 0.08
50.00 0.00
9.19
0.51 602.50
15.24
12.80
35.00
19.00
35.00
12.36
50.00
52.62
0.01
0.04
2.87
5.35
4.64
0.08
0.00
5.00
0.11
5.00
0.11
30.00
5.90
30.00
5.90
5.00
1.60
5.00
1.60
1.50
0.17
26.90
2.70
25.00
5.00
7.70
0.80
10.50
31.50
3.50
11.90
23.00
2.00
40.00
30.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.82
1.50
0.20
0.00
10.00
1.00
3.00
15.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.54
80.50
32.50
32.00
11.75
0.80
1.50
0.33
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.50
0.00
1.50
26.90
2.70
25.00
5.00
7.70
0.80
10.50
31.50
3.50
11.90
23.00
2.00
40.00
30.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.82
1.50
0.20
0.00
10.00
1.00
3.00
15.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
80.00
32.00
30.00
11.40
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.54
0.50
0.50
2.00
0.35
0.80
1.50
1.50
0.17
0.33
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m
Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k
Summary Table of AFD Disbursements in 2006 (cont’d)
Loans
Commit
-ment
year
2003 &
2005
2002
2002
2004
Reference
Purpose
(Euros, millions)
Grants
Total
Pledged Remit- Pledged Remit- Pledged Remitted
ted
ted
2006
2006
2006
Funds under AFD management
Fund for Commercial Capacity Building
(FRCC)
CVN3003
Fund for Commercial Capacity Building
(FRCC)
French Fund for the Global Environment
(FFEM)
CVN1082
FFEM/NIAH
CVN1082 02 G
FFEM/Cat Tien
CVN1091
Integrated, sustainable public transit – Hanoi
TOTAL AFD
593.31
52.11
6.05
3.00
0.58
0.41
6.05
3.00
0.58
0.41
3.00
0.41
3.00
0.41
3.05
0.17
3.05
0.17
0.47
0.58
2.00
15.24
0.03 0.47
0.05 0.58
0.09 2.00
1.09 608.55
0.03
0.05
0.09
53.20
Stakeholders in Decentralized
and Non-governmental Cooperation
The presence of French territorial communities and
NGOs is a hallmark of French cooperation in Vietnam.
There are a great many proximity stakeholders of this
nature. According to the database set up by the
Embassy of France in Vietnam and updated regularly,
there are nearly a thousand such Vietnamese and
French actors, including:
-
-
-
-
-
18
Local communities. Fifty or so are on record, and
about 15 of them have a regular,close cooperation
relationship with their partners.
International solidarity organizations (ISOs).
Close to 90 French ISOs are currently registered
with PACCOM (agency in charge of coordinating
the activities of NGOs and licensing ISOs in
Vietnam), while some 200 others carry out
regular or one-off activities.
Universities. 150 official agreements have been
made that sanction current or past links between
French and Vietnamese academic institutions.
Research institutes. At least fifty scientific
cooperation projects are being conducted with an
affiliation between French and Vietnamese
research laboratories.
Hospital partnerships. 25 official agreements
materialize such partnerships, although coope-
-
-
ration links in this area are much more extensive.
The Intern Function program (Faisant fonction
d’internes – FFI) has enabled over 1,000 Vietnamese practitioners to be hosted by French
hospitals during the last 12 years.
Many forms of twinning that involve public,
semipublic or consular facilities (trade councils,
chambers of commerce, museums, libraries,
colleges, and the like).
Viet-Kieu associations, which are many in number and very active.
Aiming to share their experiences and raise awareness
regarding the input of non-governmental cooperation
to French official development assistance (ODA),
French communities have held a number of meetings
or forums on the specific theme of decentralized
France-Vietnam cooperation: Lille (1996), Dinan (1997),
Poitiers (1998), Pont-à-Mousson (2000), Toulouse
(2003), and for the first time in Vietnam (Hue) in June
2005. The 7th edition of this forum will take place on
October 22 and 23,2007 in Montreuil.
For more information:
Agnès Schilling, Program Officer, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
French Assistance Priorities or Partnership
Framework Document (DCP)
France’s solidarity strategy in Vietnam attempts to
take into consideration the realities and current
priorities of this now emerging country in order to
walk it through its socio-economic transformation
and regional and international integration.
Until late 2005, France’s aid instruments in Vietnam
focused on the five priorities highlighted in a Strategic
Country Document (Document stratégique pays –
DSP) that had been in effect since 2001: good
governance training, strengthening the rule of law,
modernizing higher education and research,
promoting cultural diversity and francophony, providing assistance for integration into international
economic exchanges and poverty alleviation.
Starting in 2005, but with no intention of putting an
end to programs currently being implemented,France
wanted to restructure its ODA and focus it on sectors
where the needs of the Vietnamese economy are the
most pressing, while aligning it with the priorities
identified by the government of Vietnam it its Socioeconomic Development Plan (SEDP) 2006-2010. This
new direction given to our cooperation strategy is
outlined in a Partnership Framework Document
(Document cadre de partenariat - DCP) signed by the
two governments in September 2006 for the 20062010 period.
The DCP highlights two major themes:
-
-
Focus sectors linked to the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) that include support
for the production sector, infrastructure,
agriculture and rural development and AIDS
prevention;
Cross-cutting priorities that include promotion of
cultural diversity and francophony, higher
education, scientific research, support to good
governance and the rule of law and support to
decentralized and non-governmental cooperation.
Under this new framework, French ODA will be
channeled in close liaison with the other donors with
a view to aid harmonization and efficiency. This
thrust has taken concrete form by such things as
France’s membership in the Partnership Group for
Aid Effectiveness (PGAE), cooperation activities at the
European level under the chairmanship of the
European Union, in the harmonization effort being
made by the group of 5 development banks,as well as
at the main levels of dialogue, including the Poverty
Reduction Support Credit (PRSC), the Vietnam
government’s financial reform and the United
Nations Operational System reform.
For more information:
Emmanuelle Boulestreau,
Deputy Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Counsellor
Email:[email protected]
19
M i l l e n n i u m
D e v e l o p m e n t
( M D G s )
G oa l s
I. Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs)
Development of the Production Sector
Support for Municipal Infrastructure Development HIFU
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the main socio-economic
hub of the country, is facing fast-track urbanization
and escalating infrastructure demands that cannot
be met by the city’s budget alone.
For this reason the HIFU, the first municipal investment fund in Vietnam,was established in 1996 by the
People’s Committee of HCMC. Its purpose is to
mobilize outside funding and private investments for
the city’s urban infrastructure projects. The AFDfunded project in support of the HIFU aims to provide
flanking measures for the HIFU’s increased
commitments in social and environmental infrastructure.
In Vietnam, the HIFU is considered a benchmark
municipal investment fund because of its long record
of activity on this new market (established in 1996)
and the volume of its transactions. This pilot
institution is the first bilateral operation of the AFD in
a municipal investment fund in Vietnam. This assistance is in keeping with the policy of gradually
decentralizing municipality administrative and
financial affairs.
The credit line of € 30 million for which an agreement was signed with the Vietnamese Ministry of
Finance in September 2006 is intended to meet the
growing demand for basic social and environmental
services and to support controlled,sustainable urban
growth in Ho Chi Minh City. In concrete terms, this
means increasing the number and quality of social
infrastructure facilities in the areas of health,
education and public housing, as well as environmental infrastructure to reduce water pollution and
promote resorption of solid waste.This line includes a
grant of € 1.5 million in funding for a capacity
building program for the HIFU and its main strategic
partners.
This assistance provided to the HIFU is intended to
help improve living conditions for the populace of
this rapidly growing urban center.
This support strategy for the sustainable development of cities is a major pillar in France’s
cooperation policy in Vietnam and is highlighted in
the Partnership Framework Document.
There has been quick follow-through on implementation of this credit line, with the first two
remittances totaling € 12 million being disbursed in
20
the first quarter of 2007. These remittances were
mainly used to refinance projects for the upgrading
of access to health care, educational infrastructure
and solid waste management.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.afd.fr
The SME Sector Development Program
The private sector in Vietnam, and foremostly the
SME sector, appears as the key economic development driver in the country as well as the main
source of jobs to absorb the arrival 1.5 million people
each year on the labor market.
Confronted with this challenge, the government of
Vietnam has been undertaking a series of reforms for
several years now to promote private businesses and
put in place an environment that is more conducive
to their growth and competitiveness.
The SME Development Program is sectorial in nature.
It has been placed under the jurisdiction of the
Ministry of Planning and Investment (Agency for SME
Development – ASMED) and focuses on two
objectives:
• Making available an institutional and strategic
framework more conducive to SME development:
improving the system for SME registration and
issuance of permits; establishing an institutional
framework for SME development (information
systems on SMEs, markets, statistics, government
regulations, technical standards, certifying
agencies, etc.).
• Implementing various initiatives to facilitate SME
access to financial resources, land and international markets.
The SME Development Program with a total price tag
of US$ 165 M is being co financed by the AFD in the
amount of € 35 million,the Asian Development Bank
and the KfW. This is concrete evidence of the work
being done jointly by these three institutions in the
group of five banks aiming at greater ODA procedure
efficiency and streamlining in the spirit of the Paris
Declaration and Hanoi Core Statement.
Furthermore, in the framework of this program,
technical assistance under PRCC funding for the
Directorate for Standards and Quality (STAMEQ) has
been put in place to promote and expand SME access
to international markets in the wake of Vietnam’s
accession to the WTO.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.afd.fr
21
M i l l e n n i u m
D e v e l o p m e n t
( M D G s )
G oa l s
Infrastructure Development
Support for Electricity Sector Development
Vietnam’s capacity to develop its energy production
network and distribution grid is crucial to its keeping
up with the accelerated pace of the country’s
economic development.
Since moving into the infrastructure sector in 2000,
the AFD has made two investment packages
available to Vietnam in support of electrical power
network development:
- An aid envelope of € 19 million was put in place in
2001 for a Mekong Delta Rural Commune Electrification project in tandem with a project under
World Bank funding. The AFD funding initially
was to cover the electrification of 78 communes
in 15 provinces,but the costs were lower than anticipated; it was therefore possible to fund a
program for an additional 60 communes, thus
bringing the number of beneficiary communes
up to 138. Upon completion of this project in late
2006, virtually all communes in the Mekong
Delta region now have electricity service.
- In 2005 financial relief in the amount of € 40
million was put in place to provide partial funding
of the Northern Vietnam Electricity Transport
Project.This project under implementation by the
Electricity Company of Vietnam (EVN) is strengthening the high voltage electricity network in
the northern region as well as the supply available to the major urban and industrial centers of
Hanoi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh. International
level environmental agencies are being consulted
in the implementation of this project. It will
facilitate access to a cheap and reliable electricity
supply for all types of consumers in the north.The
implementation time line is from 2006 to 2009.
The overall cost of the project,co-funded with the
Asian Development Bank and EVN, is estimated
to be € 212 million (US$ 274 million). The AFD
portion is allocated primarily to fund equipment
acquisition for power transformer stations.
Moreover, the AFD is funding over 2006 and 2007 a
resident expert with the new regulatory authority
for the electricity sector (Electricity Regulatory
Authority of Vietnam – ERAV), under the Ministry of
Industry, to assist in setting up the regulatory
mechanisms inherent in the new electricity law.This
technical assistance is being offered in complement
to support from the World Bank and Asian
Development Bank.
PROPARCO, the AFD’s arm in charge of funding the
private sector group, made financial assistance
available to the tune of US$ 37 million for the Phu My
2.2 gas-fired power station (combined cycle), a “BOT”
project,in association with an investor consortium of
which the French group EDF is a member. In 2002,
FINANCE ASIA and ASIA MONEY awarded this project
the distinction of being the best project funding
operation of the year in Asia.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.afd.fr
Civil Nuclear Facilities
22
Vietnam has been involved in a civil nuclear project
for several years now. It got underway in 2001 when
the government authorized the Ministry of Industry
to conduct a prefeasibility study for a nuclear power
station.The decision of the Prime Minister of October
5, 2004 approved the study for construction of a
nuclear power station by 2017.
In 2006,French public and private stakeholders in the
nuclear power industry replied overwhelmingly to
the expectations of the Vietnamese authorities:
-
At the International Nuclear Energy Exhibition
sponsored by the Vietnamese authorities in May
2006, the French Atomic Energy Commission
(Commissariat à l’énergie atomique – CEA), the
Research Institute on Nuclear Safety (Institut de
recherches sur la sûreté nucléaire – IRSN) along
with the EDF and AREVA Companies jointly
operated a stand and shared in a general
workshop on civil nuclear energy with exhibitors
from four countries (Japan, South Korea, Russia
and France).
-
-
On that occasion, the four French partners also
held a workshop highlighting France’s expertise
in this area, public acceptance and safety. It was
hosted by the Embassy of France in Vietnam
along with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry
and Ministry of Science and Technology and was
attended by over 100 persons, which underscores
the interest that the national authorities have in
this matter.
Additionally, cooperation between France and
Vietnam on nuclear power is supported by
regular exchanges of experts in the framework of
a close relationship between the Vietnam Atomic
Energy Commission (VAEC) and the CEA since
2004. It was expanded in 2005 by a cooperation
agreement between VAEC and the IRSN covering
evaluation of nuclear facility safety and assistance for crisis management in the event of a
nuclear or radiation emergency. A further
cooperation agreement was signed in July 2006
between VARANSAC (Vietnamese safety authority) and the IRSN.
For more information:
Olivier Delesalle,
Sector Attaché, Hanoi Economic Mission
Email: [email protected]
Scientific Cooperation in Civil Nuclear Facilities
To provide support for the development of a legal and regulatory framework in Vietnam, the Embassy’s Cooperation and
Cultural Affairs Department (SCAC) has undertaken a number of initiatives since 2004.The Vietnamese Ministry of Science
and Technology has been mandated to draw up the country’s first nuclear energy law, and no less than three drafting
committees have been formed. France has therefore offered its expertise and in collaboration with representatives of the
nuclear industry in France, a number of training initiatives has been completed, including internships with the legal
departments of the CEA, AREVA and EDF, expert training at the IRSN and funding of a co-directed thesis in the area of law
applied to nuclear energy.
In 2006, many promotional initiatives continued to be funded by the SCAC, including France’s contribution to the May
nuclear energy seminar in Hanoi, the translation of reference works for extension, training sessions and internships.
The SCAC hosted a large delegation of Vietnamese parliamentarians who traveled to France in February 2007. This
high-ranking delegation was invited by Senate President Christian Poncelet and was headed by Mr Ho Duc Viet,
chairman of the National Assembly’s Science and Technology Commission. He is a top-ranking leader of the
Communist Party of Vietnam and was able to meet each of the stakeholders in the French nuclear industry (CEA,
AREVA,EDF,etc.).The delegation also toured the Civaux nuclear
power plant in Vienne, the most recent addition to France’s
For more information:
fleet of nuclear reactors, as well as the nuclear components
Alexis Rinckenbach, Cooperation Attaché, SCAC
factory in Châlon-Saint-Marcel, Saône-et-Loire.
Email: [email protected]
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M i l l e n n i u m
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( M D G s )
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Urban Environment Upgrading:
A Pilot Project in the Center Region
The AFD is contributing € 30 million to fund the
Project for Urban Environment Upgrading in the
Center Region to round out a package worth US$ 44
million made available by the Asian Development
Bank. The project slated for completion in 2009 is
targeting the six large centers of Thanh Hoa,Ha Tinh,
Dong Ha, Lang Co, Tam Ky and Quang Ngai with the
aim of strengthening basic urban environment
infrastructure and utilities through rainwater
drainage and flood action measures, sewage
treatment, waste collection and treatment. Infrastructure installation will be accompanied by
capacity building activities in order to enhance the
financial self-sufficiency of “urban environment
companies” in charge of municipal departments
concerned with the urban environment.
The project is part of a pilot operation for the
structuring of major towns that is being implemented on a participatory basis.It will coach Vietnam
as it manages the challenge of urban transition. In
less than 20 years,the population of cities in Vietnam
will grow from 20 to 46 million inhabitants, which
means an intake of nearly 1.3 million new city
dwellers every year. The planned for improvement in
the attractiveness of these major towns is expected
to reduce the migration to Vietnam’s large metropolitan centers. This project offers the potential for
partnerships with local communities in developed
countries.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.afd.fr
Access to Drinking Water in Urban Areas:
The Mekong Delta Program
Vietnam’s urban drinking water sector is confronted
with a far-reaching change in policy that was developed in the late 1990s and that is gradually coming
on its own. It involves the transformation of
government public utilities under State subsidization
into local public utilities of an industrial or commercial nature. This policy is based on giving responsibility to decentralized government offices and
municipalities, along with the setting up of water
supply companies to ensure the financial balance
through the rate structure. This move entails very
substantial investment requirements.
The AFD is contributing to implementation of this
policy through two assistance packages:
-
24
Third Drinking Water and Drainage Project: This
project involves the drinking water supply,drainage
and sanitation in five southern provinces: Binh
Duong, Tay Ninh, Ninh Thuan, Phu Yen and Kien
Giang. The AFD is providing assistance in the
amountof €12.4 million to round outfunding from
the Asian Development Bank. The project is
scheduled for completion in 2008.
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Urban Drinking Water Supply Program in the
Mekong Delta: The Mekong Delta is a priority
region for development in the country. It includes
a large number of cities wherein the drinking
water infrastructure is either inadequate or nonexistent.
The program received a pledge of funding of
€ 32 M from the AFD in late 2006. It will support
the emergence of a sustainable funding
mechanism in the sector through a number of
innovative approaches for Vietnam. It will focus
on successful or proactive water sector companies in the delta. Four to six provinces will be
selected and will have access to project capacity
building initiatives and funding. The facility in
charge of the program is the Vietnam Develop-
ment Bank (VDB), in cooperation with the
Ministry of Construction.Investment funding will
be preceded by the approval of plans for capacity
building and performance enhancement of the
applicant companies. It is anticipated that
upwards of 750,000 persons will benefit from
access to water and an improved level of service
(conditions for access,pressure,volumes available
and service hours).
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.afd.fr
Natural Hazard Protection: Reinforcement of the
Upstream Saigon River Banks
This project is being funded in the amount of € 11.4 M
by the AFD and is intended to contribute to the
balanced structuring and sustainable development
of the two entities concerned, namely Ho Chi Minh
City municipality and Binh Duong province, in
harmony with their strategic design planning for
2010 and 2020.
• Control the supply of fresh water for irrigation
and prevent soil leaching.
• Improve road and river traffic.
• Protect the environment and landscape as well as
make the area farmer friendly.
• Prevent human diseases resulting from direct
contact with polluted water.
The thrust is to maintain in proximity to urban areas
a high valued-added agricultural production zone or
green environment zone protected from urban
pressure, which is a de facto land reserve unencumbered by heavy investments and therefore
potentially available for later use as dictated by urban
growth.
The project is acting to alleviate the constraints
experienced by a population of over 90,000 persons
living on either side of the Saigon River on a area
totaling 5,500 ha between the northern area of Ho
Chi Minh City municipality (right bank) and the
southwestern part of Binh Duong province (left
bank).
The specific objectives of the project are to:
• Protect the entire project zone from Saigon River
flooding.
• Provide effective drainage in the zone, in
particular when heavy rains occur.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.afd.fr
Holistic Environmental Project for Hoi An
25
The Hoi An sanitation project moved ahead considerably in 2006.On February 8,2006,a consortium of
French corporate entities made up of VINCI (project
coordinator), STEREAU and BERIM signed a contract
worth € 8.84 million with the People’s Committee of
Quang Nam province to put in a holistic
environmental protection system for Hoi An. Spread
out over 30 months, this project has support from
France in the form of concessionary funding made
available by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and
Industry of an amount equal to the full value of the
commercial contract.
This will be a leading technology benchmark project
for Hoi An. It is a holistic project that includes both
solid and liquid waste treatment as well as a
component for disposing of dangerous waste
(hospital). Tourism activity in Hoi An is growing by
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leaps and bounds. The environment has taken on
added importance due to the fact that this city was
recognized in 1999 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This project is concrete evidence of strong FrenchVietnamese cooperation in the environmental sector.
It is expected to continue, as shown by the financial
commitment made by France at the last annual
Donors’Conference held in Hanoi in December 2006.
For more information:
Olivier Delesalle, Sector Attaché,
Hanoi Economic Mission
Email: [email protected]
Upgrading the Drinking Water Network in Ha Dong
This proposed project for Ha Dong (a town located
12 km out of Hanoi) is designed to improve management of the town’s drinking water department. Its
components include technical management of the
utility (reduction of leaks in the system and rehabilitation of a drinking water treatment plant) as well
as commercial and financial management of the
water company.The project funding package amounting to € 2.3 million is part of a continuum of initiatives conducted previously in Vietnam in the drinking
water sector which focused on the technical and
commercial management of the water department,
an area in which major deficiencies are found.
The VINCI Group signed a commercial contract as
project implementer in March 2006 for the operations that are expected to extend over approximately 12 months.
For more information:
Olivier Delesalle, Sector Attaché,
Hanoi Economic Mission
Email: [email protected]
National Center for Water Works and Environment
Training (Centre national de formation aux métiers
de l’eau et de l’environnement – CNEE)
The CNEE was established in Hanoi in 1997 under an
agreement between France and Vietnam worth FF 4
million.The investment has enabled the setting up of
the first training center, equipping it and training
some 850 technicians in the water sector.
26
In 2000, in response to the desire expressed on the
Vietnamese side to expand the center, France set up
a Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP) worth € 1 million
through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This project
was completed in April 2006 with the result that the
new center received equipment in the form of gifts in
kind of a value of € 500,000 from 19 French
companies. Training was given to trainers and
training programs were developed (which included
the translation and publication of technical books
dealing with water as well as the development of
teaching materials).The Vietnamese side contributed
a three-hectare piece of land to the project and a sum
amounting to approximately € 500,000 for building
construction. One Vietnamese director and 12
instructors have also been made available to the
Center by the Ministry of Construction.
Since the conclusion of the FSP project in April 2006,
358 persons from clean water supply companies (in
Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Tuyen Quang, Bac Giang, Bac Kan,
Son Tay,Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh) received on-the-job
or short-term certificate training. The center is also
used as a workshop for approximately 2,000
students each year from the School of Construction
and Urban Structures located on the same campus.It
also takes in trainees from the Universities of
Architecture and Construction in Hanoi. It provides
training for international cooperation projects: some
60 persons were given training under a contract
signed with the Danish International Cooperation
Agency (DANIDA).
In the interests of further developing the CNEE, the
final project evaluation recommended that a
consortium be established to sell training programs
to funding agencies working in Vietnam. Such a
partnership would include an international standard
assessment agency, a Vietnamese design engineering office and the CNEE.
For more information:
Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, Program Officer, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Project for a Pilot Urban Rail Transit Line
from Nhon to Hanoi Station
On January 12, 2006, the Prime Minister of Vietnam
approved the project to build a pilot urban rail transit
line in Hanoi based on a tube railway-type technology (trains 80 meters long and 2.8 meters wide)
between Nhon and Hanoi Station. This line of about
12.5 kilometers in length will be constructed on a
9.6 kilometer viaduct, while the segment going into
the center of the capital will be put underground.
This line is fully in keeping with the Hanoi urban
transit development scheme.France began providing
financial support in 2004, contributing to the
completion of environmental, economic and social
studies as well as to the feasibility studies that
received funding through the French Fund for the
Global Environment (Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial – FFEM) and the General Directorate
of the Treasury and Economic Policy (Direction
générale du Trésor et de la Politique économique –
DGTPE) respectively.
27
Since then, France’s financial commitment for this
project has been confirmed with € 280 million being
made available, broken down as follows: € 200 M
from the DGTPE dedicated to funding engineering
operations and electromechanical equipment and
€ 80 million from the AFD assigned to cover the civil
engineering work and stations for the underground
segment. This package accounts for approximately
three fifths of the total project amount approved by
the Prime Minister of Vietnam.
The Hanoi People’s Committee is directly in charge of
implementing this major project. It is expected that
the comprehensive studies could get underway this
summer.
For more information:
Sylvain Biard,Trade Attaché,
Hanoi Economic Mission
Email: [email protected]
M i l l e n n i u m
D e v e l o p m e n t
( M D G s )
G oa l s
Rail Transportation: A Key Pillar in French
Cooperation in Vietnam
A number of projects in the rail transportation sector
in Vietnam have received French official development
assistance, a move which has also enabled French
industrialists to get a firm position on the local
market.
First, France worked out an agreement with the
Vietnamese authorities to undertake the complete
renovation of the existing line from Hanoi to Vinh.
Two projects funded by the DGTPE (Direction
Générale du Trésor et de la Politique Économique) are
already underway on this stretch of railway:
modernization of the rail signaling and telecommunications system, with a price tag of € 50 million
for two phases,and the provision of rail maintenance
equipment worth € 9 million.
More recently, France confirmed a financial support
package of € 63 million for the project to upgrade
and rehabilitate the rail line linking Yen Vien (north of
Hanoi) and Lao Cai,a town at the Chinese border.This
project with the main objective of making this
283 kilometer line safe and increase its capacity is
part of the Asian Development Bank’s Greater
Mekong Subregion program (ADB GMS). More
concretely, it is part of the transportation corridor
project between the Chinese province of Yunnan and
Hai Phong.This latter port is closer to Kunming than
any other maritime gateway in China. This project
marks an important step in France’s economic
cooperation in Vietnam because it is the first one to
benefit from joint co-funding from the ABD for
US$ 60 million, the AFD for € 32 million and the
DGTPE for € 31 million.
Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) also received
concessionary funding from France for two other
major projects that have now been finalized: € 6.7
million for modernization of the locomotive maintenance shops and € 13.3 million for rehabilitation of
four railway tunnels through the Cloud Pass.
France has also expressed its agreement in principle
to fund the emblematic Long Bien Bridge renovation
project for an amount of € 60 million, including
€ 40 million from the AFD and € 20 million from the
DGTPE.
For more information:
Sylvain Biard,Trade Attaché,
Hanoi Economic Mission
Email: [email protected]
Two Projects Marking the AFD’s First Involvement
in the Transportation Sector:
Hanoi Metro and Hanoi-Lao Cai Railway
2006 saw the fleshing out of the AFD’S first two
projects involving the transportation sector, one of
the cooperation priorities spelled out in the
Partnership Framework Document.
The first provision is a contribution of € 80 million
toward funding Hanoi’s pilot urban rail line to be built
between Nhon and Hanoi Station.This will be Hanoi’s
first metro line and the “first stone” for the future
28
mass transit network as described in the capital’s
new master plan now being finalized. It is one of the
government’s priority projects for the millennium for
the city of Hanoi.The western section along National
Highway 32 will be elevated and then it will go
underground as it approaches Hanoi Station. This
project will introduce a very much anticipated jump
in terms of public transit capacity and organization in
Hanoi. The 12.5-kilometer line follows a very high
density traffic corridor. Once commissioned, it will
handle 124,000 travelers a day in tandem with the
bus network. The project will also contribute directly
to Vietnam’s environmental objectives by reducing
local pollution,greenhouse gas emissions and energy
consumption. The supervisory authority will be the
Hanoi People’s Committee, which has in turn
entrusted project implementation to the Hanoi
Authority for Tram and Public Transport Development. The AFD loan will help finance line
infrastructure. Equipment will benefit from a further
€ 200-million loan from the French Ministry of
Finance from its Emerging Nations Reserve Fund.The
AFD also approved a grant of € 500,000 for capacity
building activities.
The second envelope for € 32 million will support
the project to rehabilitate and upgrade the Yen
Vien-Lao Cai rail line. The focus of the project is to
repair, increase capacity and improve safety
conditions on the 283 kilometers of this strategic
axis linking Hanoi to the Chinese border by 20112012. The dimension of the support for regional
integration inherent in this project is noteworthy as
it will contribute to boost the economy and tourism
development in the northern provinces of Vietnam
as well as bolster the rail network in the Greater
Mekong Subregion (GMS) since the line is part of
the ASEAN Singapore-Kunming through connection. The overall operation is expected to cost
US$ 160 million. It is being co funded by the Asian
Development Bank (US$ 60 million) and by an ODA
funding package from the French Ministry of
Economy and Finance (€ 31 million for equipment)
and by the government of Vietnam. The AFD will
contribute a further € 600,000 in the form of grant
technical assistance to facilitate rail transport to the
border point with Lao Cai and modernize financial
management of Vietnam Railways in the framework of Vietnam’s new railway law.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.afd.fr
Agriculture and Food Security
Support for the Phu Tho Tea Industry
Phu Tho province by putting in 3,000 hectares of
new plantation with more productive tea varieties
along with the densification of 2,500 hectares of
existing plantation. As a complement to the
agriculture component, the project includes the
upgrading of 115 kilometers of rural trails which will
help improve the quality of the tea leaves hauled to
processing plants. Plans also call for associated
measures to provide farmer training and production quality control. The project will contribute
to economic development and improvement of
living conditions for over 15,000 households in the 8
districts of Thanh Son, Thanh Ba, Ha Hoa, Thanh
Thuy,Doan Hung,Yen Lap,Phu Ninh and Cam Khe in
Pho Tho province and enable:
This project under AFD funding is intended to
promote development of village tea production in
29
• Increased local tea production by the planting of
new varieties and intensification of existing fields
M i l l e n n i u m
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under cultivation.
• Improved infrastructure through rural road
mending.
• Better quality agricultural production by taking
appropriate measures and giving training on
pesticide use.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.adf.fr
Rural Infrastructure in Ninh Thuan
This project under AFD funding has the following
objectives:
• Improve the potential of production-related
infrastructure by putting in and/or rehabilitating
water retaining reservoirs and irrigation systems.
• Structure and develop nearly 2,500 hectares of
irrigated area.
• Offer coaching to promote a move from
mountain rain-fed agriculture to more intensive
irrigation-fed agriculture.
• Set up a sustainable management,operation and
maintenance system for infrastructure at the
provincial level.
The project has two components:
• Construction and rehabilitation of five water and
agriculture construction works to give added
value to the province’s water resources;
• Support management capacity-building among
users, promote the establishment and training of
users’groups and agricultural experimentation.
Implementation of this project is slated for the 20062010 period and will help improve living conditions
for some 9,000 people in the three districts of Bac Ai,
Ninh Son and Ninh Phuoc in Ninh Thuan province,
which is affected by very unfavorable weather
conditions and a high level of poverty.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.adf.fr
Exporting Vegetable and Fruit Produce From the
Da Lat Region (PRCC)
This project supported by the Trade Capacity-Building
Fund (Fonds de renforcement des capacités commerciales – PRCC) and jointly implemented by the
Hanoi Economic Mission and the AFD is intended to
promote the export of vegetable and fruit produce
from the Da Lat region.
30
The project has three main components:
• Studies to assess the needs and potential of the
fruit and vegetable production chain as well as
the expectations of export markets.These studies
now being finalized are providing valuable input
that may help other provinces or producer
associations who would like to export in the Asia
zone.
• A provision of support to industry stakeholders
and production factors in order to strengthen the
role of the Lam Dong Farmers’Association, set up
experimental plots and introduce a quality
approach as well as an information and sales
support system. The experimental plots have
been completed and the results of the studies will
make it possible to determine the types of fruit
and vegetables to be grown on them.
• Project facilitation, management and monitoring built upon the background work, which
will include seminars and study trips to Europe
and Asia.
number of trade and socio-economic issues by
improving the competitiveness of the chain and
improvement of farmer incomes.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.adf.fr
This project for trade capacity building in the Da Lat
area fruit and vegetable chain is addressing a
Support for the Framing of Agriculture Policies:
MISPA Project
31
In its provision of support to institutions, French
cooperation is funding a project with the Institute of
Policy and Strategy in Agriculture and Rural
Development (IPSARD). The title of the project is
Mobilization of Information to Serve Agriculture
Policy (Mobilisation de l’information au service des
politiques agricoles – MISPA) and its purpose is to
build the capacity of this institute to generate and
analyze scientific information on agriculture and
rural development and thereby provide decisionmakers with the data they need to make choices in
terms of public policy. Such support is of particular
importance in a context wherein the government of
Vietnam is attempting to gradually distance itself
from the role of planner strictly speaking and to
develop its regulatory capacities. Since the country is
still strongly rural (70 percent of the population) and
agriculture occupies a major place in the economy
(20 percent of the GDP and one third of export
earnings), government decisions in the area of rural
development must be based on quality information.
This project has a time frame of four years (20022006) and has a price tag of € 1.5 million provided
through the Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP) administered by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It
hinges on three components:
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-
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Capacity-building (training sessions, study tours,
expertise) in organizational terms, scientific
terms (tools, methods) and communication.
Preparing studies and setting up working groups.
Studies done by the institute or other Vietnamese
partners involve topics directly linked to the
concerns of policy-makers. Furthermore, three
task forces are studying competitiveness in the
agriculture industry, rural development and the
coffee industry.
Project management (steering committee,
communication, audits, evaluation).
The project is anticipated ultimately to achieve the
following results: assistance provided to restructure
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IPSARD, improved staff scientific capacities, some 18
studies conducted and workshops held to discuss the
conclusions thereof, three working groups established to provide regular input, as well as local and
international expertise networks set up around
IPSARD. The working groups have been set up as
departments (except for the coffee group) within the
institute. IPSARD’s role as a venue for the production
of information to facilitate decision-making will
likewise have been reinforced.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.adf.fr
SUSPER Project
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded a
cross-region agriculture project entitled “Sustainable Development of Peri-urban Agriculture in
Southeast Asia” (SUSPER) over a four-year period
(January 2002 to July 2006). This project worked in
four cities - Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam),
Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Vientiane (Laos) - and
brought several local and international stakeholders
into association: the Center for International
Cooperation in Agriculture Research for Development (Centre International de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - CIRAD), the Asian
Vegetable Research and Development Center
(AVRDC), the Hanoi Fruit and Vegetable Research
Institute, the University of Thu Duc, the Agriculture
Department of the Laotian Ministry of Agriculture
and the Department of Agro-industry under the
Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture. The project has
increased cooperation between Vietnam, Laos and
Cambodia and highlighted the dynamics of the
vegetable trade in the region.
In the three countries, the project has highlighted
the transfer of research and intervention methods
by means of workshops and publications. This is a
guarantee of sustainability for most of the initiatives
that were undertaken. The market analysis skills of
senior management staff in the research institutes
and in government departments have been
strengthened.
SUSPER’s goal was to develop the skills of private and
public agents working in the field of peri-urban
agriculture to ensure a sustainable food supply.
It helped the target cities to better respond to the
local demand for vegetables. The strong consumer
demand for vegetables indicated to be safe was
demonstrated and conveyed to groups of producers.
32
Currently, peri-urban market-gardening zones are
supplying high-end stores and supermarkets in
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. When the concluding
seminar was held on June 27, 2006,Vietnamese fruit
and vegetable producing co ops and companies
were able to pick up very valuable information on
consumer needs thanks to the presentations that
were given.
The research findings on product flows on the
market also made available quantified data
regarding the role of peri-urban zones in terms of
fresh produce supplies for city dwellers, especially
leafy vegetables. These findings were of special
interest to officials in charge of urban planning in
both Hanoi and Phnom Penh (Municipal Urban
Affairs Office).
Technical solutions including off-season planting of
grafted tomatoes, growing vegetables under tunnel
shelters and raising fish in floating cages were found
to meet market demands and increase farmer
incomes. For example, in Hanoi, one of the greatest
success stories of the project is off-season grafted
tomato growing. With the assistance of the Asian
Vegetable Research and Development Center,
farmers in Dong Anh and Gia Lam districts were able
to increase their income considerably (over VND 66
million per hectare).
New procedures for labeling and certifying the
health quality of vegetables were also tested.
An inexpensive system of daily price information
collection and dissemination was developed to
facilitate producer negotiations with sellers.
The SUSPER project has established the following
follow-up initiatives in Vietnam:
• The Data Processing and Statistics Center
(ICARD) under the Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development will continue publishing
daily price information (with possible support
from the ADB).
• Initiatives regarding produce labeling and
certification will be continued at Hoai Duc (Ha Tay
province) in the framework of the PCP MALICA
(Markets and Agriculture Linkages for Cities in
Asia) that is a coalition of CIRAD, the Vietnam
Academy of Agriculture Science (VAAS) and the
Institute on Policy and Strategies on Agriculture
and Rural Development (IPSARD), in cooperation
with the ADB/DFID project “Making Markets
Work Better for the Poor.”They are funded by the
PCP MALICA and the Ha Tay Provincial People’s
Committee.
For more information:
Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, Program Officer, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Agriculture Health Policy
The foundation for cooperation in the area of animal
health was laid in April 2004 in Hanoi when
negotiations took place between representatives of
the Food Directorate (Direction générale de l’alimentation – DGAL) under the French Ministry of Agriculture and their Vietnamese counterparts at both
the Department of Animal Health (DAH) under the
Ministry of Agriculture and the National Fisheries
Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate
(NAFIQAVED) under the Ministry of Fisheries (MOFI).
A memorandum of understanding between France
and Vietnam in the field of veterinary medicine was
initialed and then signed during President Chirac’s
visit to Vietnam in October 2004. At the same time,a
cooperation agreement for the control of marine
animal diseases, also negotiated in April 2004, was
inked in June of the same year in Paris.
1. DAH
This agency has requested support from France in the
two priority areas of disease diagnosis as well as the
design and implementation of emergency plans. A
broader analytical thinking process on the
organization and operation of veterinary services in
Vietnam will also be conducted,and will include such
things as an improved articulation between the
central departments, provincial departments and
animal farmers. In June 2004, the DAH director and
his associates shared in a health mission in France,
while in December 2005, two DAH experts (directors
of regional veterinary centers) attended a one-week
workshop in France in which they studied the French
mechanism for epizooty control and health crisis
management.
33
2. NAFIQAVED
Fisheries and aquaculture products are the backbone
of Vietnam’s exports. A priority goal that French
expertise is in a position to help Vietnam achieve is
making sure that they comply with international
health standards,particularly those of Europe.French
support is primarily being directed to the rational use
of inputs, health regulations and the official control
mechanism.
In October 2004, two laboratory specialists from the
NAFIQAVED attended a training course at the Nantes
National Veterinary School. In December 2004, a
specialist in veterinary medicine from AFSSA (Agence
française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments / French
Food Health Security Agency) in his capacity as chief
inspector of veterinary public health, spent two
weeks in Vietnam to get the cooperation component
concerning the use and control of medications up
and running. And in December 2005, two
NAFIQAVED experts specializing in veterinary
products in the field of aquaculture and laboratory
management attended a course in France on the
subject of aquaculture medicine.
From February 7 to 9, 2007, a DGAL delegation
traveled to southern Vietnam on a mission organized
by NAFIQAVED. Its purpose was to check on the
progress made by the Vietnamese aquaculture
industry in the area of quality control (veterinary
medication control and organization of health
control in aquaculture),as well as the development of
initiatives to be undertaken in 2007 and beyond.
M i l l e n n i u m
D e v e l o p m e n t
( M D G s )
G oa l s
In 2007 and 2008, the French-Vietnam bilateral
cooperation program will be continued by means of
an expert exchange program between the DGAL,
party of the first part, and DAH and NAFIQAVED,
parties of the second part.
For more information:
Béatrice Tauziède,Trade Attaché,
Hanoi Economic Mission
Email: [email protected]
Agriculture and Rural Development Projects
under Decentralized Cooperation
French NGO Activities and Decentralized Cooperation in Vietnam in 2006
Rounding out what the conventional institutional stakeholders are doing, non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) and decentralized cooperation arrangements led by regions or territorial communities in France are
playing a major role in the rural sector.
I.The following NGOs are working in rural development:
1) Research and Technological Exchange Group
(Groupe de Recherche et d’Échanges Technologiques -GRET)
GRET has been present in Vietnam since 1988 and
hinges its activities on two programs: the Red River
program and the program to support the local
production of cereal meal for infant feeding and
nutritional education (Appui à la production locale de
farines infantiles et d’éducation nutritionnelle –
FASEVIE). GRET has expanded its activities as a
consultant or operator in projects funded by multilateral donors, including the European Commission
in two northern provinces (Bac Can and Cao Bang)
and the Asian Development Bank in one central
province (Kon Tum).
For more information:
[email protected]
GRET ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM
Title
Content
Red River Program
Research,development and
training program focusing on
improving agriculture
technologies,sharing innovations,
structuring agriculture commodity
chains and farmer associations
Improve services for rural
communities and cooperation in
the areas of primary health,
agriculture and animal husbandry
based on the promotion of local
and professional organizations
Institutional
Development and
Local Associations
for the
Organization and
Management of
Group Services DIALOGS
34
Duration Co-sponsors Partners
Locations GRET
Budget
Nov. 2000- European
Oct. 2005 Commission
Hai Duong,
Bac Ninh,
Vinh Phuc,
Phu Tho,
Bac Kan,
Thai
Nguyen
Capitalization phase
from Jan.
to June
2006
Vietnamese
Agricultural Sciences
Institute – VASI, Hanoi
Medical University,
Médecins du Monde
(Doctors of the
World), AFDI,VECO
€ 1.1
million
Title
Content
Duration Co-sponsors Partners
Locations GRET
Budget
Research Project on
Agricultural
Dynamics in Zones
Subject to Urban
Influence in
Southeast Asia RURBASIE
Bamboo
Development
Project
Analyze the impact of urban
sprawl on agriculture around the
secondary cities of Vinh Phuc and
Hai Duong
Oct. 2002- European
Apr. 2007 Union – INCO
VASI, INRA, UCL, FaFo,
CEDAC
Hai Duong, € 0.97
Vinh Phuc million
Help smallholder bamboo
producers in Thanh Hoa to get
organized to increase their
earnings from the market while
meeting its quality and traceability
requirements
Support for local planning,
organizational capacity building of
Montagnard villages and training
of commune facilitators.Project
conducted in consortium with
BCEOM
Feb. 2005- IFC, ADB,TBF,
Mar. 2007 IKEA
Oxfam Hong
Kong
IDE
Thanh Hoa €
156,400
Mar. 2006- European
Dec. 2010 Union
DPI/MPI
MARD
Bac Kan
€
719,000
National Institute of
Nutrition - NIN,
Research Institute for
Development (Institut
de recherche pour le
développemt – IRD),
VASI,Women’s League
Capacity-Building
Center (Vietnamese
NGO), DPI and line
departments,
associations in Kon
Tum
Ha Tinh,
Quang
Nam, Da
Nang, Bac
Kan
€ 0.583
million
Initiative to
promote
development of
poor northern
mountain
communities
(IPPDNU)
FASEVIE
Program in
Vietnam
Central Vietnam
Project to support
improvement of
rural household
livelihoods in Kon
Tum province
Support for the local production of
cereal meal for infant feeding and
nutritional education
Extension and self-sufficiency
Jan. 2004- EU, MAE,
phase
Dec. 2007 UNICEF, Coop.
Nord-Pas de
Calais, Sight
and Life
Promotion of local development
activity focusing on poverty
alleviation and improvement of
living conditions
Sept. 2005- Asian
Dec. 2007 Development
Bank – ADB
2) Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders
(Agronomes et Vétérinaires sans frontières – AVSF)
With its permanent presence and expertise in animal
health and production, AVSF is playing a confirmed
role as a source of information and expertise that
many other operators draw upon.
Starting in January 2006, this NGO has been
developing a new holistic strategy co funded by the
MAE via a global capacity building program for
farmer organizations and support for rural development. Its focus is the development of small
35
Kon Tum
animal husbandry aiming at poverty alleviation, the
enhancing of veterinary services and bird flu prevention. In early 2007, AVSF was selected by the
group of international non-governmental organizations present in Vietnam (about 500 NGOs) to
represent them at a level of dialogue established
between the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development (MARD) and the international donor community, the International
Support Group (ISG). The ISG is made up of
11 funding agencies, 10 MARD departments, the
Agriculture Economics Department of the Ministry
M i l l e n n i u m
D e v e l o p m e n t
( M D G s )
G oa l s
of Planning and Investment and the External
Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance.
For more information:
[email protected]
AVSF ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM
Project name
Content
Funding
agencies
Avian influenza Support veterinary and paraVarious,
veterinary services to prevent this including owndisease through training,
source funds
development of reference
documents, organizing studies
and exchanges
Analysis of
FAO
Carry out a study on the
experiments on development of dairy animal
the develophusbandry in Vietnam
ment of dairy
production
Livestock
working group
Coaching an information
exchange group for the animal
sector
Project for the
development of
animal
husbandry to
reduce poverty
in the northern
mountain
regions
Strengthen support services for
animal husbandry from
establishing directions to
technical and economic
performance assessments of
animal holdings.
Animal Health
and Husbandry
Development in
Thai Nguyen
Province
Agrifood
International –
own-source
funds
Swiss
Cooperation
Private funding
agencies
Private donors
Sustainable development of
animal husbandry, enhancing the
quality of animal health services
by helping to more clearly
identify the potential for animal
husbandry, forming farmer
groups.
3) Viêt Nam Plus
Viêt Nam Plus is an association established in 1994 to
promote community development in Bình Thuân
province. This NGO works in the rural credit sector
(over 6,000 women have been organized into
savings and credit groups), health (training and
prevention), education and agriculture extension
(exchanges with agronomists on agriculture
technology, veterinary training, farmer groups).
36
Partners
Locations
Veterinary Department of
National
Vietnam; FAO; Academy for
Educational Development; French
Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Pfizer
Animal Health Group; Helvetas;
etc.
National
National Animal Husbandry
Institute and Department of
Agriculture (Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural
Development); General Council of
Côtes d’Armor; FAO; Agrifood
Consulting International (ACI).
Projects and institutions working National
in the animal sector
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development (Institute of Animal
Husbandry, etc.), Departments
(provincial) of Agriculture and
Rural Development (DARD),
District People’s Committees,
Directorate of Swiss Development and Cooperation (DDC)
Provincial People’s Committee;
Provincial Department of
Agriculture;Women’s League;
Thai Nguyen University of
Agriculture; Pfizer Animal Health
Group
Phu Tho,
Son La and
Yen Bai
Thai
Nguyen
4) CEVEO Association
The East-West Veterinary Cooperation and Exchange
Association (Coopération et échanges vétérinaires EstOuest – CEVEO) has been present in Vietnam for
nearly 10 years now,working primarily in Ho Chi Minh
City municipality and Dong Nai province. A Referral
Veterinary Center came into being in 2004 in Dong
Nai in partnership with the Provincial People’s
Committee and the Rhône-Alpes region.The purpose
of the center is to provide on-the-job training for
practicing veterinarians. It is also an analysis center
for the dairy cow herds.In 2006,the association drew
closer ties with AVSF in order to carry out joint
initiatives.
5) France has also provided funding assistance for
various initiatives handled by a Vietnamese
association, the Union of Technologies Applied to
Development (UTAD), that has been working since
2003 in the three provinces of Ha Giang, Son La and
Thanh Hoa, organizing training sessions for each
province on the application of production
technologies and processes for clean, high-yield seed
potatoes.
6) ACOTEC Association
The Association for Technical and Cultural
Cooperation (Association pour les Coopérations
Techniques et Culturelles – ACOTEC) and the FranceVietnam Friendship Association (Association d’Amitié
Franco-Vietnamienne – AAFV) are working in
partnership with local Vietnamese chapters of the
Red Cross in villages throughout many provinces,
assisting agent orange victims to establish small
herds of cattle, goats or pigs.
7) The Institute of Ecological Economics, a
Vietnamese entity, received a funding package from
France in 2006 for a project to create a model
ecological village in an area of bare hills in a
commune of Thua Thien-Hue province. The
beneficiaries of this project include some 50 poor
farmer families.
II. Decentralized cooperation in the rural sector includes the following:
1) The Nord-Pas de Calais region has been working
since 1993 in a multi-form cooperation program in
three provinces of Central Vietnam (Thua Thien-Hue,
Quang Nam and Da Nang). The region has been
involved since 1994 in six priority sectors:
improvement of the urban environment, public
health,preservation of the natural environment,rural
development, economic development and
francophony.
In June 2005, operational implementation agreements for decentralized cooperation were signed
with the three central provinces of Thua Thien-Hue,
Quang Nam and Da Nang in order to firm up the
partnership arrangement. In 2006, however, the
region decided to permanently end its partnership
with the three provinces as of July 2007.
For more information:
[email protected]
37
2) The Aquitaine region has been involved for several
years now in cooperation projects with Vietnam. A
new partnership arrangement came into being in
2006 with Quang Ninh province (in northeastern
Vietnam). The result was a draft project to provide
support for the designing development schemes in
Quang Ninh province.The project involves framing a
sustainable development master plan for one of the
districts in the province and the formulation of an
environmental management scheme for Ha Long
Bay. The purpose of the project is to promote high-
potential economic and tourism development
activities, although it has not yet gotten up and
running.
3) The Midi-Pyrénées region has been working in a
decentralized cooperation arrangement with Son La
province since December 2003. In partnership with
the Southwest Association for International Agriculture Development (Association Sud Ouest pour le
Développement International Agricole – ASODIA), the
region is implementing a project for the improvement of agriculture and agri food industry products, notably in the milk industry with the Son La
Dairy Company and more recently the production of
plum wine with the Fruit Growers’ Co op. The region
would also like to develop access to credit for farmers
in Moc Chau district on the basis of mid-term loans
from the Regional Fund for International Cooperative
Development.
4)The Rhône-Alpes region has been working in Dong
Nai province since 1999. This cooperation has led to
exchanges between the Thu Duc Veterinary Faculty
and the National Veterinary School of Lyon. The
region has also been supporting a scientific exchange
program in this same province for several years now
on the theme of tropical forest preservation, notably
the Than Phu forest, led by the University of Lyon I in
partnership with the University of Natural Sciences in
HCMC (management and conservation of biodiversity, reconstitution of forest land, development of
educational tourism, training of technicians, researchers and engineers).
M i l l e n n i u m
D e v e l o p m e n t
( M D G s )
G oa l s
5) In May 2006, the department of Val de Marne
signed a cooperation agreement to improve
veterinary services and promote animal husbandry
and farmer skills development with the province of
Yen Bai (its local partner) and AVSF (who will be its
operator).
French Food Aid Counterpart Funds
On three occasions France granted food aid packages
to Vietnam: 1994, 1997 and 2000. The funds realized
from the sale of these aid packages (VND 31.37 billion)
are managed jointly by the Vietnamese Ministry of
Finance and the French Embassy. The purpose is to
fund poverty alleviation and rural development
operations in the area of irrigation so as to increase
food security in the countryside.
Counterpart funds for the year 1994 (VND 10.37 B)
were partially spent on building schools and drinking
water supply projects.Fifty percent of the funds were
earmarked for small-scale fruit processing projects
on production sites in disadvantaged northern
provinces (Bac Giang, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Son La).
Since 1997, five projects have been funded through
counterpart funds, for a total amount of VND 17.6
billion.
It was mutually agreed to funnel the proceeds from
the 2000-2001 food aid package to provinces
affected by severe flooding in 1999-2000.
- Rehabilitation and construction of hydraulics
systems in four mountain communes (Van Ban,
Tam Son, Phuong Vi, Dong Cam) in Song Thao
district, Phu Tho province.
- Upgrading the Lien Son agriculture hydraulics
system,Vinh Phuc province.
- Rehabilitation of pumping stations and
construction of internal canals and sustainable
development of agriculture, Ha Tinh province.
38
-
Rehabilitation of the Phu Ninh Lake canals,Quang
Nam province.
Rehabilitation of dikes and construction of sluice
gates in the Ong Muoi-Ba Tra agricultural area in
Cai Lay district,Tien Giang province.
In agreement with the Ministry of Finance, plans call
for the amount remaining from these assistance
packages to fund the three following projects which
have been submitted to the Prime Minister of Vietnam
for approval:
- Reconstruction of the main structure, drainage
canal system and pumping stations of Roc San and
Doi Lu (Nho Quan district,Ninh Binh province).
- Clean water supply for the poor in Trung Don
hamlet (Thanh Hai commune, Hai Lang district,
Quang Tri province).
- Construction and renovation of a rice paddy
irrigation system for food security in the two
communes of Quang Cong and Quang An (Quang
Dien district,Thua Thien-Hue province).
In addition to the construction and rehabilitation of
farming areas, part of the funding is used to provide
technical training for local stakeholders. These
projects aim to increase the efficiency of agriculture
activities and promote the sustainable development
of natural resources.
For more information:
Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, Program Officer, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Health and AIDS Prevention
AIDS Prevention
HIV was late in coming on the scene in Vietnam (early
1990s) and infection was long confined to a
marginalized population. As was the case elsewhere
in the world, the epidemic then spread to the
population at large. Based on UNAIDS estimates,
there are now over 280,000 HIV-positive persons in
Vietnam, and the virus reportedly caused nearly
14,000 deaths in 2005. The number of new cases of
infection is estimated at over 37,000 that same year.
Thus,the number of persons living with HIV has more
than doubled between 2000 (122,000 persons
infected at that time) and 2006. The epidemic was
initially concentrated, basically affecting intravenous
drug users and prostitutes, but it is now tending to
spread outside,with a prevalence exceeding 1 percent
among 15- to 49-year-olds in Ho Chi Minh City
(HCMC), Hai Phong and Quang Ninh, with an
increase in heterosexual transmission. Nevertheless,
intravenous drug users and prostitutes are the most
affected groups, with an HIV-infection prevalence of
34 percent and 6.5 percent respectively.
During the 2003-2004 period, the annual national
budget allocated to AIDS prevention was US$3
million with a US$ 7-million contribution from
donors. During the 2005-2006 period, it was upped
to US$ 6 million for the national side and US$50
million for donors. The U.S. President’s Emergency
Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) alone is providing 60
percent of funds for AIDS prevention in Vietnam.
These figures reflect the concern the Vietnamese
government feels in the face of this problem and the
leadership role in this area played by the United
States among the international partners.
39
Since 2003, cooperation in the area of AIDS prevention has been in step with the sectorial strategy of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with regard to health
and AIDS prevention. With its attention initially
directed to programs of the National Agency for AIDS
and Hepatitis Research (Agence nationale de
recherche sur le sida et les hépatites - ANRS) for research, training and providing laboratory equipment,
French cooperation in the realm of HIV/AIDS infection
has been enhanced by hospital partnerships (ESTHER
program) aimed at promoting improved HIV-
infected patient management. The ANRS and
ESTHER programs have pioneered holistic patient
care and, starting in 2004, were offering effective
antiretroviral treatments along with the necessary
appropriate follow-up.
1. National Agency for AIDS and Hepatitis Research
(ANRS)
The ANRS has been working in cooperation with
Vietnam since 1988 (HIV/AIDS workshops in Hanoi
and Ho Chi Minh City). The first partnership agreement was signed in 1995 with the Ministry of Health.
In 2000, a Southeast Asia site was established in
cooperation with the ANRS and the Ministries of
Health of Cambodia and Vietnam. A clinical research
unit was set up in the Ho Chi Minh City Institut
Pasteur in 2001 and a working arrangement was
established with the ESTHER program (see below).
Research activities in Vietnam mainly involve:
- The effectiveness of,tolerance for and compliance
with a once-a-day antiretroviral treatment in HIVinfected adults (VIETAR-ANRS 1210 trial).
- The potential impact of genetics on proneness to
HIV infection or resistance to it (ANRS 12117).
Further research is being carried out jointly with the
teams in Cambodia:
- Research on new diagnostic procedures and
management of infectious lung diseases in HIVinfected patients (PneumAsia-ANRS 1260 study).
This study is also being carried out on ANRS sites
in Africa.
- Validation and implementation of simple,
inexpensive diagnostic and virological monitoring techniques for HIV infection in adults and
children.
- Search for cases of antiretroviral resistance in
treated patients as well as resistance in patients
who have never been previously treated (ANRS
12134).
The ANRS site is sharing in the development of the
infrastructure needed for the ongoing scientific
programs and training of the clinical researchers and
biologists involved. Each project is receiving funding
from ANRS independently from a specific budget
M i l l e n n i u m
D e v e l o p m e n t
( M D G s )
G oa l s
from the site and funds necessary to equip the
laboratories sharing in the research activities. The
activities of the ANRS site in Vietnam are supported
by a technical assistant in charge of site coordination
recruited by the MFA and working out of HCMC.
Tropical Diseases and the Center for Preventive
Medicine. A third partnership site was put in place in
Hai Phong in September 2004: the twinning of the
Viet Tiep Hospital in Hai Phong with the Toulouse
University Hospital Center.
2. ESTHER program
2003 saw the actual launching of the program known
by its French acronym ESTHER (Ensemble pour une
Solidarité Thérapeutique Hospitalière en Réseau /
Together for Networked Hospital Treatment Solidarity)
in Vietnam,based on a ministerial agreement signed in
October 2002.
The ESTHER projects were started up quickly, which
made it possible to follow the Vietnamese government’s marked change in attitude towards a more
honest acknowledgment of the epidemic and an
increased willingness to provide care for persons
living with AIDS. These programs were developed in
synergy with research being conducted by the ANRS.
These activities received assistance from an IRD
researcher specializing in social sciences, more specifically the knowledge and behavior patterns
relating to the AIDS risk.The future challenge will be
to develop a network ensuring a continuum of care to
promote the holistic management of patients and to
put in place organized and equitable access to
specific treatments (supply and prescription of ARVs).
The project goals are to strengthen the human and
physical resources needed for patient management in
local facilities and make it easier to get antiretroviral
(ARV) treatment with, on the horizon, articulation of
these activities with those being developed by the
Vietnamese government and other cooperation
players. The hospital partnerships include such
activities as:
- Training of medical personnel and biologists;
- Equipping laboratories and departments;
- Putting in place support structures and psychosocial activities for patients;
- Organizing the provision of specific treatments;
- Managing and monitoring patients on antiretroviral treatments.
Five hospital partnership projects have gotten
underway on three sites:Ho Chi Minh City,Hanoi and
Hai Phong. In Hanoi, there are hospital partnership
agreements with the Dong Da Hospital and the
Versailles Hospital Center, as well as the Saint-Paul
Hospital and the Limoges University Medical Center.
In Ho Chi Minh City, a parallel process has been
developed with the Georges Pompidou European
Hospital Center and the Bordeaux University
Hospital Center, in partnership with the Hospital for
Since late 2004, the ESTHER program has been
coordinated by a program officer under funding
assistance from the French MAE. A psychologist
acting as the focal point for the psycho-social support
activities rounds out the team that also includes a
Vietnamese doctor whose salary is cared for by the
program in Ho Chi Minh City.
Expenses for the GIP ESTHER in Vietnam tally up to a
total outlay of approximately € 2.5 million for a
project duration in the neighborhood of three years.
For more information:
Dr.Jean-Jacques Bernatas,Cooperation Attaché,SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Medico-social and Primary Health Care Projects
Medico-social and primary health care projects are
one of the principal areas in which a major
cooperation initiative has been developed through
the efforts of thirty or so French associations working
in the medico-social sector in Vietnam.These projects
are consistent with the Millennium Development
Goals and are contributing to the policies for poverty
40
alleviation and elimination of social inequality
advocated by the Vietnamese government.
Many projects have been receiving support from the
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for over ten years
now (MAAIONG – Mission d’Appui à l’Action Internationale des Organisations Non Gouvernementales /
Support Mission for International Initiatives of Nongovernmental Organizations; FSD – Fonds social de
développement / Social Fund for Development).
The SAMU Social International Association has
designed a project to care for homeless migrant
populations in Ho Chi Minh City.
The issue of care for children with problems is the
focus of a number of associations in Vietnam.The NT
Foundation (research in child psychology) is working
on the legal aspects of child welfare in cooperation
with the French-Vietnamese association NT PSY, the
Child Welfare Commission and other institutions.
L’APPEL Association (along with L’APPEL Lorient) has
been working for many years in the fields of pediatrics and neonatology.
Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) is working
in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to care for AIDSinfected patients.
A training program in child psychology (supported by
the Agence universitaire de la francophonie / Francophony University Agency) put in place by the
Toulouse II and Montpellier III Universities with the
support of the Midi-Pyrénées General Council and
the ADEPASE Association with the Hanoi National
University, laid the groundwork for the profession of
clinical psychologist in Vietnam with the first class
graduating in October 2002.
The AFESIP Association (Aide aux femmes en situation
précaire / Acting for Women in Distressing Situations)
is working essentially in Vietnam and Cambodia in
the area of preventing trafficking in women and
children and getting them back into their home
country.
Other organizations lending their support are: ADEP
(Association d’entraide des polios et handicapés / Selfhelp Association for Polio Victims and Disabled
Persons), ADCV (Association for the Development of
Surgery in Vietnam),in cooperation with the Limoges
University Medical Center, FASEVIE (GRET project for
the support of nutrition in school on the basis of a
nutritional study conducted by the IRD).
In 2006, the amount of funding provided by
MAAIONG to the health sector in Vietnam amounted
to € 317,953.61, with the beneficiaries being L’APPEL,
the French Red Cross, GRET and Gynécologie sans
frontières (Gynecology Without Borders). The SCAC
spent a total of € 21,360 for L’APPEL, Rizières (Rice
Fields) and the FASEVIE project.
For more information:
Dr.Jean-Jacques Bernatas,Cooperation Attaché,SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Hospital Partnerships
The hospital system is now benefiting from a vast
rehabilitation program thanks to support from
international cooperation as well as from investments made by the Ministry of Health and municipalities (People’s Committees).
Based on health cooperation initiatives structured by
the MAE focusing on Vietnam, a close link has been
woven among Vietnamese and French health
professionals over the past decades. Many doctors
who received specialty training in France have been
entrusted with department leadership responsibilities and have worked in a continuum of the
relationship already established through FrenchVietnamese hospital partnerships. Hospitals have
twinned up for the furtherance of this hospital
cooperation supported by the French Ministry of
41
Foreign Affairs (MAE) which is contributing to the
improvement of the care environment by means of
refresher training, renovation initiatives, equipment
upgrading, hygiene and asepsis, training of supervisory staff in charge of nursing and paramedics as
well as in the area of hospital management.
Currently, some twenty different hospital partnerships are operating throughout the country, nine
of which are supported by the MAE.
Furthermore, exchanges have taken place in the area
of high technology that have been pursued by
technical assistance missions (Paris and Toulouse) for
pediatric kidney transplants and assistance for
drafting a law on organ and tissue collection and
transplants (two missions by the Agence de la
Biomédecine / Biomedicine Agency, one of which
M i l l e n n i u m
D e v e l o p m e n t
( M D G s )
G oa l s
involved the Établissement Français du Sang – EFS –
in Besançon, the EFS being France’s leading operator
in the field of blood transfusion). And in the area of
cardiac surgery, a full team of four from the Hanoi.
Cardiology Hospital was hosted in France for a fourmonth training period at the Clermont-Ferrand
University Medical Center. It received training in
open-heart surgery on babies weighing less than 10
kilgrams.
For more information:
Dr.Jean-Jacques Bernatas,Cooperation Attaché,SCAC
Email: [email protected]
The Institut Pasteur
Since May 2005, the Institut Pasteur has had a researcher stationed in Hanoi who is also responsible for facilitating the
Coordination Office of the Institut Pasteur network in the region. In a context wherein communicable diseases are
emerging (SARS, avian influenza, etc.), establishment of this position was most timely to meet the needs expressed by
Vietnamese researchers in the local network of Pasteur institutes (Hanoi, Nha Trang and HCMC), centering on research
capacity-building and researcher training.
In the area of research:
- The RESPARI Project,“Research-driven Response to Acute Respiratory Infections,”is being conducted in cooperation with
the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) in Hanoi, the Instituts Pasteur in HCMC and Nha Trang as
well as the other IPs in the region (IP- Cambodia, Pasteur Center-Hong Kong University, IP-Shanghai, IP-Korea and IPNew Caledonia).
The main target is acute respiratory infections (ARIs): (i) diagnosing and monitoring the viral and bacterial agents
responsible for respiratory infections in adults and children; (ii) epidemiology of ARIs; (iii) immunology, physiopathology and vaccine research; and (iv) development of new tools for diagnosis based on state-of-the-art techniques
developed at the Hong Kong University Pasteur Research Center, IP-Shanghai and IP-Korea.
A project in partnership with the AFD for the Surveillance and Investigation of Epidemics in Southeast Asia (Surveillance
et investigation épidémique en Asie du Sud-Est – SISEA) is now being prepared. This project has a budget exceeding
€ 6 M for a period of four years and will provide support for the RESPARI project which it complements with regard to
all of its non-research activities.
- A study of the natural history of the circulation of the AI (H5N1) virus has been undertaken in cooperation with the
NIHE, IP-HCMC and IP-Nha Trang as well as other IPs in the region (IP-Cambodia and the Laotian Ministry of Health).
The goals are to gain insight into the circulation patterns of the virus responsible for avian influenza and its survival in
nature, in poultry as well as in humans.
The results will be of value in providing a detailed knowledge of the natural history of the H5N1 virus, the existence of
cases of benign infection in humans or ‘wholesome carriage’as well as risk factors.
- A study is also underway to identify the agent causing a severely acute, unknown encephalitis that has been
developing for a few years in the form of small epidemics striking children in northern Vietnam (collaboration between
the NIHE and IP-Paris). Such epidemics that are surfacing in the Bac Giang region where lychee fruit is extensively
grown could have a strong economic impact on the production zone in addition to the human cost. Analysis
techniques for the viral genome are now being applied in order to describe it, and epidemiological studies are
endeavoring to understand the natural history of the virus, how it infects its victims, as well as the existence of a
reservoir.
In the area of training:
- IP-Shanghai conducted a one-week training session for researchers in the Asia Pacific Network on the theory and
practice of biosafety.The session was attended by six Vietnamese students.
- Two researchers from the NIHE specializing in virology attended training sessions at the Institut Pasteur-Paris and the
Jacques Monod Institute (Paris VI).
- Courses were held as follows:(1) molecular genetics of the ARN virus in 2006 at the NIHE;(2) a course in rabies diagnosis
at the IP-HCMC in March 2007 and (3) electronic microscopy at the NIHE in 2006.Transmission electron microscopy is
a tool needed for identification of new emerging viruses. The NIHE is the only institute in Vietnam to have this
technology in an operational form and the project has been designed to expand the technology to the other Pasteur
42
-
institutes in Vietnam, to the one in Phnom Penh as well as to Laos.
Upgrading of two laboratories for training in biochemistry and microbiology was provided with exceptional funding
allocated to the IP-Ho Chi Minh City and NIHE amounting to € 250,000 to each of these institutions. This funding
package was granted in the wake of a visit made in November 2005 by Xavier Bertrand,Minister of Health.His visit was
part of a process of evaluating the means made available by
France to share in the fight against avian influenza in
For more information:
Vietnam.
Dr.Jean-Jacques Bernatas,Cooperation Attaché,SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Avian Influenza and Emerging Diseases
Vietnam was hard hit by the avian influenza epidemic
back in 2003 with the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus
jumping to man. To date, Vietnam remains the
country with the largest aggregate number of
human cases (92, of which 42 resulted in death).
However,in the wake of drastic measures to fight the
bird flu epidemic that were taken swiftly and strictly
enforced, the country has had no cases of human
infection since November 2005. An effective international partnership and successful coordination by
the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture are
behind those good results.
The mechanism provided by France to support avian
influenza prevention focuses firstly on the “animal”
component in controlling the epidemic, with two
technical assistant positions being staffed with MAE
funding, one with the NGO ASVF (Agronomes et
Vétérinaires Sans Frontières / Agronomists and
Veterinarians Without Borders) and the other with
the FAO. The “human” component of prevention is
based on support to the National Institute of Hygiene
and Epidemiology in the amount of € 2 million,
through the Institut Pasteur. This support has an
essentially regional dimension through the network
of Instituts Pasteur in Southeast Asia. Furthermore,
Vietnam is among the countries benefiting from the
developmental FSP called GRIPAVI,which is to provide
support to the PRISE pole, a partnership between
CIRAD, the National Institute of Animal Husbandry
(NIAH), the National Institute of Veterinary Research
(NIVR) and the Hanoi University of Agriculture.
The “Alliance for Development”private interest group
provides a component for Vietnam in its dengue fever
prevention project.This project entitled “Communitybased Biological Dengue Vector Control,” is being
implemented by the Institut Pasteur through a cofunding arrangement that links VEOLIA, SANOFI, the
Institut Pasteur and the MAE.
For more information:
Dr.Jean-Jacques Bernatas,Cooperation Attaché,SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Avian Influenza Prevention - AVSF
43
As for avian influenza prevention, the association
Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (AVSF /
Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders) is
one of the largest permanent technical teams
present in Vietnam and it has been officially
accredited by the Vietnamese authorities. AVSF
began its involvement with the avian influenza
problem in 2004 when it recommended organizational strengthening and capacity-building for
peripheral veterinary services (provided by civil
servants and private para-veterinary workers) to
improve detection of infected flocks and the
implementation of appropriate control measures.
Since then, AVSF has been a key operator for the AFD,
WB, USAID and FAO with regard to plans for
assessment of the epidemiological situation,
description of the poultry industry, the socioeconomic impact of the epizooty, the production and
M i l l e n n i u m
D e v e l o p m e n t
( M D G s )
G oa l s
dissemination of reference manuals and outreach to
most of the provinces in Vietnam, etc.This has led to
the publication of three authoritative guidebooks by
AVSF (in Vietnamese for veterinary and para-veterinary workers) on the prevention and control of avian
influenza in small holdings in Vietnam and other
countries of the region, along with a guidebook on
epidemiological investigation and a guidebook on
avian influenza diagnosis.
AVSF is the founder and key facilitator of the network
of national and international experts (Vietnam
Livestock Working Group), which promotes information exchanges in the animal husbandry sector.
The AVSF team was reinforced from late 2005 to late
2006 with the presence of an international volunteer
under Ministry of Foreign Affairs funding assistance,
acting as a veterinary technical assistant, along with
an Australian specialist in information systems. This
means that in addition to a team of 10 persons
working for the sustainable development of smallscale animal husbandry in mountainous regions, a
skills pool for “veterinary services/avian influenza”
made up of 10 additional persons including 6
Vietnamese veterinarians was established to provide
specific support to veterinary services in 14 provinces
as of 2006 (funding from the WB,Japan,Switzerland,
France, the US, the ADB as well as from private
funding agencies). Starting in 2006, this pole has
been extended to Cambodia and Laos.
For more information:
Patrice Gautier, Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
Malaria Prevention
Based on a cooperation arrangement set up between the Vietnamese and French Departments of Army Health and with
the support of the Hanoi Military Mission,a medico-scientific operation involving malaria experts from both countries was
conducted from October 31 to December 10 in Binh Phuoc province,Bom Bo commune (center-south,near the Cambodian
border).The objective was to assess the impact of malaria in this
high-risk area. A mobile laboratory developed by the Marseille
Institute of Tropical Medicine, Army Health Department (Institut
de Médecine Tropicale du Service de Santé des Armées – IMTSSA,
Le Pharo) was deployed in a local dispensary.With the help of the
South Medicine Center, it provided biological assistance for the
diagnosis of malaria and the culturing of the parasite to test its
level of resistance to medication. At the conclusion of this field
mission, the scientific work was continued in laboratories of the
IMTSSA in Marseille, Center for Analysis and Research on Military
Medication and Military Institute of Hygiene and Military
Epidemiology in Hanoi.The results will enable the parasite’s level
of resistance to treatment to be assessed and the prescription of
medication to be adjusted. All of these results will contribute to
the prevention of this disease that is responsible for the death of
For more information:
tens of thousands of persons worldwide each year.The success of
Lt-Colonel Yves Rols,
this mission is the result of close cooperation between French and
Defense Attaché to the Embassy of France in Hanoi
Vietnamese military scientists and doctors.
Email: [email protected]
44
II. France’s Cross-cutting Priorities
in Vietnam
Elite Training and Scientific Research
Major Directions of France’s Training Policy
Initiatives undertaken by the French Embassy fit in with
one of three cross-cutting programs in the 2006
Partnership Framework Document under the heading
of human resources training and scientific research.The
overarching goal is to “pursue an active role in modernizing the education and research system and in
training management level officials and elite.”
The fast-paced development taking place in Vietnam
demands certified,degree-holding human resources in
terms of engineers, scientists and senior corporate
managers.Two types of initiatives are being privileged
by the Embassy:
- Delocalization of French degree-granting
training;
- Underscoring the attractiveness of French
university education and student mobility.
These two complementary pillars have recently been
put in place, making it possible to offer a general
training program for bachelor and master degree
qualification in country and encourage research
mobility for the Master 2 and doctoral degree.
French University Poles that have been operational
since the beginning of the 2006 academic year are
the core of the new academic mechanism. The
training programs they offer include science and
technology, life science and biotechnologies, social
studies, economics and law. Specialized operators or
programs round out the training offer, including
management (Centre Franco-vietnamien de formation à la gestion – CFVG) and engineering sciences
(Programme de Formation des ingénieurs d’excellence
au Vietnam – PFIEV).
This cooperation in elite training is intended to
broaden the scope of the francophone community
and make francophony a quality benchmark for
Vietnamese elite.
Delocalized Training Programs: A French University
in Vietnam
French University Poles that have been operational
since the beginning of the 2006 academic year are
the core of the new delocalized academic mechanism. The training programs they offer include
science and technology, life science and biotechnologies, social studies, economics and law. Specia-
45
lized operators or programs round out the training
offer, including management (Centre Francovietnamien de formation à la gestion – CFVG) and
engineering sciences (Programme de Formation des
ingénieurs d’excellence au Vietnam – PFIEV).
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
French University Poles (Pôles
universitaires français – PUF)
When French President Chirac visited Hanoi in
October 2004, a memorandum of understanding
was signed by the French and Vietnamese governments establishing French University Poles within
the National Universities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh
City. This ambitious project is aiming to provide an
umbrella for all French university cooperation in this
country, make it consistent and give it visibility.
The project involves delocalization in Vietnam of
French training based on the European BMD model
(Bachelor, Master and Doctorate degree studies). All
15 French universities involved in the project are also
committed to a quality assurance approach as a
token of the excellence of the instruction offered; a
strong articulation with research is an integral part of
the undertaking.
The following curricula have been made available:
• Hanoi
> Master in Science and Information and
Communications Technologies (Paris 11).
> Master in Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering (Aix-Marseille).
> Master 2 in Economics Expertise and International Project Management (Paris 12)
> Master in Social and Human Management
(Toulouse 1)
> Master in Business Computing (Paris-Dauphine)
> Doctorate in Law (Toulouse 1, Lyon 3, Bordeaux 4)
> Bachelor in Managerial Economics (Lyon 2)
• Ho Chi Minh City
> Master in Computer Technology (Paris 6 and
Bordeaux 1)
> Master in Micro-electronics and Telecommunications (Rennes 1)
> Master in Materials (Rennes 1)
> Master in Biotechnology (Paris 11)
> Bachelor in Economics / Management (Toulouse 1)
The choice of these curricula is in response to a
demand expressed by the Vietnamese side and is
cognizant of the specificity of the industrial and
economic environment. The instruction is mostly
given at the Master level, in keeping with a heavy
industry demand for high-caliber managers, while
promoting the development of research activity.
The programs offered in Hanoi are balanced between
hard sciences, social studies, law and economics.
Those in Ho Chi Minh City focus essentially on science
and technology,in particular information technology
and biotechnology.
For more information:
• Hanoi
Laurent Grosclaude, Project Manager,
Pole Co-director
Email: [email protected]
• Ho Chi Minh City
Sylvie Mira-Bonnardel, Pole Co-director
Email: [email protected]
www.puf.edu.vn
The PFIEV - A Training Program for Engineers of Excellence in Vietnam
In the wake of a commitment made in 1997 by the French and Vietnamese governments, along with the involvement of
major French firms, the PFIEV provides an expertise umbrella in Vietnam for engineer training. It is headquartered in the
Polytechnical Institutes of Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City as well as in the National School of Civil Engineering in
Hanoi.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been funding this program since 1999 for a total amount of € 4 M.The funding
will cease in late September 2007. Much work has already been done to have the program transferred to the Vietnamese
side.
The training program is based on a strongly experimental model built upon a sound prerequisite study of basic sciences.
46
The curriculum is five years in length,modeled on the French ‘Grandes Écoles’or Higher Schools of Engineering.The opening
of new horizons in the corporate world is a reality (internships, professional support positions, tours of businesses), and a
minimum level of English and French is required for a degree qualification. Training in corporate and industrial project
management rounds out this program that is touted to become a benchmark for restructuring engineer training in
Vietnam. Research activities are being put in place in order to offer students training through research activities and to
enable teacher scientists to structure their research work and develop relationships between the institutions of learning
and the corporate community.
The third class of PFIEV engineers graduated in June 2006. The degree is issued by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education
and Training and is one of the first degrees outside of Europe to be recognized by the French government based on the
appraisal made by the Commission for Engineer Accreditations.It is also the first Vietnamese higher education diploma in
this field to enjoy international recognition.The program had an
For more information:
intake of over 1,200 students at the start of the 2006 academic
Sandrine Maximilien, Project Manager
year who are at various stages of their five-year degree course.By
E-mail: [email protected]
late 2010, the engineer stream will stabilize at 300 graduates a
www.pfiev.edu.vn
year for the 13 options combined.
The France - Vietnam Center for Management Training
The first France-Vietnam cooperation program in the field of
education was established under an agreement signed by the
Vietnamese and French governments in 1992. The FranceVietnam Center for Management Training (Centre francovietnamien de formation à la gestion – CFVG) is operated by the
Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is now a major
player in management training in Vietnam.The CFVG has been a
member of the European Foundation for Management
Development (EFMD) since 2005, and is working on an accreditation process for its programs (EPAS, EFMD Program Accreditation System).
With a presence in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in premises
made available by its partners, the National University of Economics in Hanoi and the University of Economics in Ho Chi
Minh City that were renovated from funding provided by the regional SYNERGIE program, the CFVG provides junior
Vietnamese management-level staff the unique opportunity to soak in the excellence of France’s most reputable
institutions in the fields of management, finance and marketing, offering three different degree programs:
In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City:
• The MBA,Master of Business Administration.The management degree is granted jointly by the CCIP and the Advanced
School of National Economics (École Supérieure d’Économie Nationale – ESEN) in Hanoi (Francophone stream and
Anglophone stream); and by the CCIP and the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City (Anglophone stream).
• The MEBF, Master in Economics of Banking and Finance. A specialized degree program in banking and finance offered
in English and issued jointly by ESCP-EAP and the Paris Dauphine University, intended for bank managerial staff and
corporate financial directors.
47
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
In Ho Chi Minh City:
• The MMSS, Master in Marketing, Sales and Service. A specialized degree in marketing and sales, offered in English and
issued jointly by the IAE Paris 1 Sorbonne and ESCP-EAP, designed for sales and marketing managerial staff (mass
consumption, industry, pharmaceuticals, services, etc.).
In nearly 15 years, the CFVG has contributed to the training of over 800
young professionals, including 43 from Laos and Cambodia; 20.6 percent
of CFVG’s graduate students are now working in upper management
positions.
For more information:
Jérôme Bon, Project Manager
Email: [email protected]
www.cfvg.org
Establishment of “CampusFrance Vietnam”
CampusFrance was established by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Education as the promotional arm for higher education
in French abroad.
CampusFrance Vietnam is a new service provided by
the Embassy of France in Vietnam for Vietnamese
students desirous of continuing their university
education in France. It is under the Cooperation and
Cultural Affairs Department and has an office in both
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Students are provided with personalized assistance
from the guidance stage to planning their stay
in France. Students can consult
the
www.campusfrance.org site on the Internet and
go to its specific page for Vietnam
www.vietnam.campusfrance.org where they will
receive the needed guidance. A personalized space
has been provided to enable them to communicate
with CampusFrance Vietnam officers. A powerful
search engine and a catalogue containing references
to 20,000 higher education programs are also
available on line.
978 student visas were issued in Vietnam in 2006.
Any student desirous of going to study in France
must register through this site in order to start his or
her file. This enables a more effective follow-up of
student applications. Students can see how their
application is progressing in real time from the time
they fill it out and submit it until their visa is granted.
50 percent of applicants for higher education in France have
their high school leaving certificate, 29 percent have a Dai Hoc
(master level) and 13 percent a Ky Su (engineering degree).
Moreover,French institutions of higher learning have
access to these files and can thus consult application
files on line.
SOME FIGURES:
40 percent of selected applicants enroll at the bachelor level
(Licence 1), and 46 percent are accepted for master or doctoral
training or a program in one of the “grandes écoles” (advanced
schools).
48
For more information:
Alexis Rinckenbach, Cooperation Attaché, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
The Embassy’s Scholarship Programs
In 2006, the Embassy revised its scholarship
programs based on a partnership approach focusing
on structuring our university and scientific cooperation in ongoing dialogue with the Vietnamese
authorities and academics and on boosting our
research projects.
1.“Evariste Galois”Program
The new “Evariste Galois” program focusing on
priority issues in our higher education and research
cooperation was used in 2006 to refurbish the Embassy’s scholarship offer and make it more attractive.
The awarding procedure was reworked to bring it
into line with the French government’s standards for
scholarship candidates hosted in France.
A More Visible Program…
To make it more widely known, the Embassy’s
scholarship program was given the name of the
young French math prodigy Évariste Galois (18111832). This reference highlights the overriding
scientific component of the program and is also an
A Popularity Record
The invitation for applications was advertised in the media in
October 2006 during a promotional campaign that was
continued throughout November in Vietnam’s large dailies.
When the program was launched, an introductory day for the
student public was held at the Hanoi French Cultural Center on
October 20, on which occasion 300 introductory brochures
were distributed. The question-and-answer period was
particularly fruitful. The SCAC team fielded a constant flow of
questions for nearly two hours on all the practical aspects of the
program. The press had been invited to the launch and it was
covered in the dailies and over the airwaves (Radio Vietnam). A
similar event will be organized in Ho Chi Minh City in November
along with an information tour in the universities.
On program opening day, the Embassy’s web site had a record
number of visitors, with 1,241 visitors checking out the “Évariste
Galois” announcement. In three weeks, the notice was viewed
3,600 times - a daily average of 145.
49
implicit tribute to one of the oldest and most fruitful
fields of our cooperation with Vietnam.
...Focusing on Priority Fields of
Cooperation, Made More Attractive
Scholarships for Master’s Degree II Research and
doctoral studies are given in three major areas of
cooperation:
- Basic sciences (math, chemistry, physics, biology,
health sciences, agronomy).
- Engineering sciences (applied sciences and
technologies; civil engineering, urbanism, etc.).
- Management, economics, commerce.
- Law and political science.
In response to a recurring demand from thesis
directors as well as scholarship holders, our offer has
been reassessed based on the following format:
-
25 thesis scholarships with the qualifier
“excellent”that give special consideration to a codirection arrangement, lasting from 15 months to
three years (three months the first year and six
months for the next two years, including a round
trip to France each year).
-
50 Master’s Degree scholarships, reduced to 10
months to match the length of the academic year.
Based on an agreement with the Île-de-France
region, applicants wishing to study in an institution
in that region are short-listed through the “Évariste
Galois” program for a possible regional scholarship.
This partnership increases the reach of the Embassy’s
program.
A Simplified Awarding Procedure, Shared
Selection
In an effort to reduce the imbalance among the
number of applications filed in the north compared
to the rest of Vietnam, graduate students can now
submit their “paper file”to the Consulate of France in
Ho Chi Minh City or with the French Cultural Center in
Hue, although file processing continues to be
centralized in Hanoi.
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
The applicant downloads the application form from
the Embassy’s web site, fills it in and returns it along
with a copy of his or her full file (including supporting
documents). This procedure now handled electronically in part enables each student to receive an
electronic acknowledgment and have the student
listed immediately on the initial applicant roster.
On the basis of the assessment grid drawn up by the
Embassy, the Scientific, Technical and Pedagogical
Mission (Mission scientifique, technique et pédagogique – MSTP) of the Ministry of National Education,
Higher Education and Research assesses the acceptable files sent in electronically.
In compliance with the recommendations of the
French government’s guidelines for awarding
scholarships, a local joint selection board has been
formed, made up of Vietnamese academics and
institutional representatives. Along with representatives of the Embassy who are necessarily associated with the selection process and those of the
Agence universitaire de la francophonie (AUF),
representatives of the Ministry of Education and
training (“Program 322”), as well as the National
Universities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,the Hanoi
Polytechnical Institute, etc. sit on this committee.
On the basis of the assessment made by the MSTP,
the Board sets the thematic and geographic priorities
of the selection. The joint local board had its first
meeting on April 17, 2007.
The setting up of this board strengthens the
academic and scientific partnership of which the
Embassy’s scholarship program is one of the key
tools.It is also an expression of the concern felt by the
Embassy to adopt a more institutional approach in
the distribution of its allocations. Priority is given to
doctoral level students in a co-directed arrangement.
50
The attention given to supervising the research
project and its inclusion in an existing cooperation
arrangement at the time the joint selection is made
is intended in the mid-term to build up a critical mass
of Vietnamese researchers and academics to be
future relays in our joint cooperation projects. The
“scholarships” tool is thus by vocation intended to
support university projects such as those of the
French University Poles (Pôles universitaires français –
PUF) or scientific projects such as those of the
upcoming “Hubert Curien Program” (Programme
Hubert Curien – PHC).
2. Co-funded Programs
In order to enable a maximum number of students to
pursue university study in France, the Embassy has
offered various co-funded programs for several years
now with local partners (Ministry of Education and
Training, People’s Committees, PetroVietnam, Electricity of Vietnam, etc.), as well as with French institutions (Île-de-France and Poitou-Charentes regions;
Universities of Technology, etc.).
In addition to the amount remitted by the funding
agency, each student involved in such partnerships
receives a scholarship for social security coverage
which guarantees him or her the status of French
government scholarship holder and the advantages
thereto pertaining. Some partnerships (Ministry of
Education and Training, PetroVietnam, People’s
Committees) include a year of preparatory language
training funded by the Embassy.
For more information:
Alexis Rinckenbach, Cooperation Attaché, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Coaching the Vietnam Government’s Scientific
Policy
Vietnam has established a policy for the development of scientific research. France is intending to
provide flanking measures for the Vietnam government’s policy in areas that intersect its own priorities,
based on two modes of intervention: expertise to
assist in identifying capital development projects, as
well as support for the training of Vietnamese
researchers through scientific studies and hosting
doctoral level students in France.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides services in
terms of scientific intelligence, information, networking, support for the French presence in
international conferences and help in setting up French
research structures abroad.In Vietnam in particular,the
Embassy is supporting the ongoing presence and
actions of 18 researchers from the International
Cooperation Center for Agriculture Research for
Development (Centre de coopération internationale en
recherche agronomique pour le développement –
CIRAD), seven researchers from the Research Institute
for Development (Institut de recherche pour le
développement – IRD), three researchers from the
French School of Asian Studies (École française
d’Extrême-Orient–EFEO)and one researcher funded by
the National Center for Scientific Research (Centre
national de la recherche scientifique - CNRS) within the
International Research Center Multimedia, Information, Communication, Applications (MICA) housed
in the Hanoi Polytechnical Institute.
1.Seminar on scientific cooperation
between Vietnam and France
On March 7 and 8, 2007, the Embassy of France in
Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and
Technology (MOST) held a seminar on scientific
cooperation between France and Vietnam.
Signature of scientific cooperation
agreements between France and
Vietnam
A scientific cooperation agreement between France
and Vietnam, as well as an agreement for a new
program of assistance for scientific mobility were
signed on this occasion.
This program under the name “Hoa Sen Lotus” will
fund projects developed jointly by two research
teams one French, the other Vietnamese, which will
receive financial support after evaluation from the
two partner levels in both countries. The support
granted is intended to cover the “internationally
induced costs”of projects,in other words the mobility
of researchers involved in these joint initiatives.
The seminar held on March 7 and 8 brought together
over 300 researchers, scholars, representatives of
French research agencies and their Vietnamese
counterparts.Their purpose was to jointly identify the
thematic priorities and details of the first invitation for
applicants, which may well be launched by the end of
the first quarter of 2007.The joint selection of projects
will take place before July in order to have them
included in the respective financial programming.
This collaboration will also provide input for the
analytical thinking being done on the format and
themes of a future Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP)
program.
The wrap up of the workshop proceedings provided
an overview in which the priority proposals were
highlighted, thus laying the foundation for the first
“Hoa Sen”project call.
2. Opening of the “Science and
Technology Institute”in Hanoi
51
An institute featuring French science and technology
was opened on March 6, 2007 in Hanoi when the
chairperson of the National Scientific Research
Center (Centre national de la recherche scientifique CNRS), Mme Catherine Bréchignac, the chairman of
the Research Institute for Development (Institut de
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
recherche pour le développement – IRD), Mr. JeanFrançois Girard, and the chairman of the Académie
des technologies, Mr. François Guinot, came on
mission to Vietnam.
A Pragmatic Project: Mutualization of
Means and Visibility for French Agencies
in Vietnam
The French Institute of Science project was put
forward by the Embassy in early 2006. When the
chairmen of the IRD and CIRAD were on joint mission
in Hanoi in June 2006, validation was given in
principle,followed in turn by a gesture of support from
the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS. The Académie des
technologies, although still without a representative
in Vietnam, very recently announced its intention to
join such an entity,which could therefore be renamed
the Science “and Technology”Institute.
This alliance comes in response to the pragmatic
consideration of economy of scale, for instance
enabling a reduction of operating expenses and the
sharing of space used temporarily by researchers or
postgraduate students.
Furthermore, a more active policy to promote our
scientific and technological cooperation arrangements could be driven by what could be referred to as
the “French Science Institute in Vietnam.” Our
presence as well as our scientific achievements in this
country would certainly enjoy increased visibility.
For more information:
Alexis Rinckenbach, Cooperation Attaché, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
International Research Center MICA (Multimedia, Information,
Communication and Applications)
Opened in November 2002, this joint laboratory is housed in the Hanoi Polytechnical Institute (HPI), which provided
funding for much of the construction.Three institutions share administration of it:the HPI,the INP Grenoble and the CNRS.
Since January 2006, the MICA Center has had the status of Joint International Unit of the CNRS (UMI2954), an
international pole of excellence.
The center’s vocation is to deal with a number of concerns relating to the evolution of information technologies,
multimedia and data processing for industrial purposes and thereby contribute to Vietnam’s development at the level of
research as well as in training and the industrial fields. Its research initiatives are broken down into the following scientific
fields: word and image processing, multimedia, using the Internet, perceptual spaces, man-machine interfaces and
communicating objects, high-tech instrumentation.
The four key objectives of the MICA Center are: develop quality research actions; validate them through hardware and
software productions; knowledge and skills transfer to
Vietnamese students, scholars and especially industrialists by
helping to develop with them and for them the hardware and
software tools that they are currently lacking; affirm itself as a
showcase of French scientific know-how.
Since its establishment, the MICA Center has been involved in six
national projects and 12 international projects, being leader in 15
of them.Thirty-five researchers making up three scientific teams
along with some fifteen students work permanently in the
center.They have published over 350 scientific papers and shared
in over 60 international conferences.
For more information:
Nguyen Trong Giang, Director
Email: [email protected]
Web: http://mica.edu.vn
52
The FSP BIODIVA Project
Vietnam’s mountainous regions have conserved an exceptional diversity of wild and domestic animal species that are of
both economic and heritage interest. For geographic or historical reasons, they have largely escaped the major upheavals
that have transformed traditional production systems in Southeast Asia over the last 50 years. Over 50 different ethnic
groups inhabit these regions and eke out a living from these differentiated ecosystems. In very remote areas in the
Annamite Cordillera, many large mammal species (saola, giant muntjac, Java rhinoceros, etc.) have been discovered or
rediscovered in recent years.
The project will be focusing on some of these species over its
three-year time frame (2005-2007).
The saola, an animal icon of Vietnam, is one of them. Described
for the first time only in 1995 in Nature magazine,it is threatened
with extinction particularly due to poaching. Safeguarding it is
therefore a matter of urgency. Embryo cloning was the solution
chosen to achieve this. At the current time, six-day-old embryos
have been developed using the cell nucleus transfer cloning
technique. A number of them have been frozen for future
implantation in surrogate mothers.
Biodiva is supported by the Priority Solidarity Fund under the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the amount of € 1.7 over five years
(2003-2008) in partnership with the French Fund for the Global
Environment.It is being implemented by CIRAD and INRA for the
For more information:
French side and by the National Institute of Animal Husbandry
Dr. Jean-Charles Maillard, Project Manager
(NIAH) and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
Email: [email protected]
(VAST) for the Vietnamese side.
The IRD in Vietnam. An Exemplary Scientific Partnership:The “Soils, Land Use, Degradation, Rehabilitation”Team
(Hoa Binh and Phu Tho Provinces, Northern Vietnam)
Natural resources degradation on slopes (quality and availability of water,soil fertility) in many Southeast Asian countries
is an increasing source of problems. Because of population increase and economic development, these resources are being
put under increasing pressure on many fronts.This is particularly true of the mountain watersheds in Southeast Asia which
are home to the most destitute communities.
The project in Vietnam headed by Research Unit 176 “Solutions”of the IRD’s Department of Living Resources,in cooperation
with the Institute of Soils and Fertilizers under the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Science within the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has entered its second phase (2005-2008).The activities the Research Unit are
part of the Management of Soil Erosion Consortium (MSEC) program of the International Water Management Institute
(IWMI-CGIAR) managed by Dr. Christian Valentin (pedologist) for Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
By analyzing cropping systems on marginal land and by gaining insight into soil degradation processes and modeling
them, the project is attempting to reverse the soil “degradation spiral”and work for the rehabilitation thereof through an
interface of agro-ecologic and biophysical approaches that integrate human strategies in climate and economic forcing
processes for the sustainable use of soil and water. The special feature of this study is that it is based on a actual case
involving the development of forage growing in mountainous zones (oats in winter on rice fields, perennial tropical grass
on slopes in association with tree planting) in order to provide food for herds throughout the year and at the same time
53
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
protect the soil. This initiative is being carried out in partnership
with CIRAD and the Vietnamese National Institute of Animal
Husbandry (NIAH).
This project is being co-funded by the IRD (€ 250,000 annually);
the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the FSP “DURAS”
(€ 150,000 for two years, 2005-2007); the Ministry of Research
(ECCO-PNRH,€150,000,2004-2006);by the IWMI in the amount
of € 150,000 annually, by the “Sustainable Development”
network of the Francophony University Agency (AUF-Erosion, €
100,000, 2005-2007) and by support for the funding of many
thesis scholarships arising from the educational programs of the
Embassy of France,the AUF and the government of Vietnam.The
MAE is also covering the cost of an international volunteer
assigned to the project.This project is being carried out by means
of a strong partnership with a number of Vietnamese research
institutions of the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology and numerous universities, including the Universities of
Science in Hanoi, Paris VI, Montpellier, Bordeaux I, Newcastle
(England) and Wageningen (Holland).
For more information:
Dr. Didier Orange, Project Manager
Email: [email protected]
The Priority Solidarity Fund “ Support for Research on the Challengers of Economic and Social Transition in
Vietnam” (FSP2S)
Launched in October 2004 for a 55-month period and with a budget of €1.7 M,this Priority Solidarity Fund project is aiming
to produce and disseminate, as tools to help decision-making, the findings of quality research in the field of social studies,
economics and political science, both through the development of joint research programs as well as the training of
researchers in new methodological approaches.
The project is funding 10 joint research projects over a four-year period on groundbreaking, multidisciplinary subjects,
categorized under three leading themes:
- “Growth of the private sector and the informal economy - the socio-economic challenge and government response,”
four projects.
- “Vietnam in the global context - the dynamics of regional and international integration,”two projects.
- “Permanencies and contemporary transformations of social structures and identity referents,”four projects.
Training through research is being encouraged by the awarding of 10 research allocations alternately between Vietnam
and France (one Vietnamese doctorate-level student for each
project, a six-month stay per year in France). The 10 doctoral
candidates have now been identified and they left for France at
the beginning of the 2007 calendar year.
The first meeting of the Social Sciences Cooperation Board, the
steering arm of the project, was held in July 2006 at the
Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences. This meeting enabled a
progress report to be made on each of the 10 projects.
The presence of Vietnamese researchers in French research
laboratories along with the one-time support for research
54
programs being conducted by French and Vietnamese scientific personalities is part of an active policy of networking
research in the social sciences.
In 2006, this scientific networking was improved thanks to the
holding of seminars on methodologies and conferences in Hanoi
and Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnamese researches were assisted
financially to attend an international seminar at the Institut des
Sciences de l’Homme and University of Lyon 2.
For more information:
Stéphane Lagrée, Project Manager
Email: [email protected]
http://www.ambafrance-vn.org/
http://www.efeo.fr/
Export Trade Capacity-Building:The PRCC
The PRCC is a joint undertaking between the Agence
Française de Développement and the General
Directorate of the Treasury and Economic Policy
(Direction générale du Trésor et de la Politique
économique – DGTPE) under the French Ministry of
Economy, Finance and Industry. It makes funding
available for technical cooperation schemes and
training to help eligible developing countries in Asia
and Africa to share more effectively in multilateral
negotiations and improve their position in the
development of international trade. It therefore
involves the two key components of trade assistance,
which are improvement of export capacities and the
related institutional technical assistance.
In Vietnam, projects coming under the PRCC have
been identified around three focus areas:
-
-
-
Institutional capacity building for export
development through the provision of training
for staff of the line ministries and in the provinces.
Support for the strengthening of agro-industry
chains and training programs for the development of exports with companies, corporations or
syndicates in such chains.
Support for the development of tourism and ecotourism that highlight components relating to
local arts and crafts in remote,sparsely populated
areas.
An initial envelope of € 1.5 M made it possible to fund
in 2004 and 2005 the first cooperation initiatives in
Vietnam, which included support for the develop-
55
ment of the Vietnamese mechanism to provide
financial support for exports, training of Vietnamese
trade advisors, support for exporting fruit and
vegetable crops from the Da Lat region, as well as
assistance for the development of technical and
industry standards.A second envelope in the amount
of € 1.5 M made available in June 2005 will enable the
funding of new projects, some of which have already
been identified (such as the training project on
intellectual propriety for Ministry of Commerce staff
and the coffee scholarship project in Dak Lak
province).
Projects may involve the central or provincial level of
government, representative levels or companies that
play a unifying role for the needs of the sector.These
initiatives are being implemented by means of
provisions of technical assistance technique, training
and awareness-raising campaigns, along with onetime studies.
A PRCC introduction and briefing seminar was held
on June 2, 2006 in Hanoi by the Ministry of Planning
and Investment, the Agence Française de Développement and the Hanoi Economic Mission. A second
seminar will be held in June 2007 in Ho Chi Minh City.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.afd.fr
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
Training in the Health Sector
Postgraduate training for Vietnamese health professionals has always occupied a special place in French
cooperation with Vietnam.
Cooperation at this level involves many different
stakeholders: hospitals, universities, research centers
and institutes, associations as well as a dozen
different territorial communities. The French pharmaceutical industry is well represented in Vietnam
where it handles one third of drug product imports.
Several laboratories provide training: international
conventions, on-the-spot training, equipment placement and study trips to France.
Ongoing training programs have successfully been
conducted in medical imaging, odontology and
emergency medicine. However,instruction in cancerology had to be suspended after two unsuccessful
attempts.
Skills development courses referred to as Level 2 have
enabled to date 314 doctors, pharmacists and
biologists to receive additional training in France
(22 in 2006). Other trainees (for a total of 595)
received financial assistance for study trips through
decentralized cooperation, various associations or
private invitations, notably from pharmaceutical
laboratories.
This provision has enabled altogether 2,074 trainees
working in the health sector to go to France from
1986 to 2006.
The year 2005-2006 saw the extension of the
training program for medical specialists at Levels
1 and 2, as well as continuing education streams. For
Level 1, an average of 50 new FFI trainees a year are
being accepted at the present time. However, there
has been an increase of 32 percent in the number of
those taking Level 2 training programs compared to
2004-2005 (22 compared to 16).
The Intern Function Program (Faisant
Fonction d’Interne – FFI)
This program offers various opportunities for skills
upgrading and continuing professional training for
Vietnamese medical specialists, with nine specialty
streams. Selection tests involve knowledge of the
specialty and obtaining a French-language proficiency diploma. Since 1986, 1,165 specialists have
taken these one-year courses in a French hospital
center (47 new FFIs were selected in 2006).
This program is co-funded in excess of 70 percent by
French university hospitals. It costs them an
estimated € 27,000 for every FFI position (about € 1.3
million a year for 50 FFIs). The Embassy input to the
funding of this program amounted to approximately
€ 422,000 in 2006 (€ 200,000 for training in
Vietnam, € 220,000 for pre-training scholarships,
Level 2 scholarships, a dozen scholarships (Égide
rate 1) for 6 months, plus airfares.
For more information:
Pham Thu Nguyet, Sector Assistant, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
56
Cultural Affairs and Francophony
L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center (CCF) and the
French Cultural Network in Vietnam
L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center is a tool for
influence, partnership and cooperation in the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Broadly stated, its
mission is cooperation and dissemination of French
culture and the French language. It enjoys a sound
reputation as one of the key cultural institutions in
the country. Positioned at the heart of cultural
development in a country undergoing far-reaching
changes,L’Espace-CCF is making a major contribution
to the emergence of new realms of expression
through its commitment to contemporary FrenchVietnamese creation.
57
Initiatives led by L’Espace-CCF are in keeping with the
Embassy’s strategy. It includes cooperation activities
in the following areas: art and culture, francophony,
books and writing, audiovisual and journalism,
language and educational initiatives, promotion of
higher education in France thanks to the presence of
a language cooperation office and CampusFrance.
The institution provides an umbrella for the French
cultural network in Vietnam that includes the French
Cultural Centers in Da Nang and Hue that are
contributing to relay cooperation activities in the
various aforementioned areas of intervention. It
works in close consultation with the SCAC office in Ho
Chi Minh City and the IDECAF,a cultural institution in
the economic capital of Vietnam under the
administrative authority of the Vietnamese Ministry
of Foreign Affairs. Such relays expand their field of
intervention in a spirit of multi-sector cooperation
with the Vietnamese partners. The cultural institution of the Embassy of France in Vietnam has
developed its project on the theme of the promotion
of cultural diversity and the meeting of the two
cultures based on the pillars of “culture and
economics”and “culture and heritage.”
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
Some Figures Relating to L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural
Center
Multidisciplinary cultural cooperation institution occupying
2,850 m2.
280 m2 exhibition hall.
245-seat auditorium.
330-m2 media center with 5,000 members, 25,000 books, 50
periodicals and 3,500 audiovisual documents available on loan.
Hosts about fifteen events each month (exhibitions, shows,
projections, debates, seminars, etc.).
A staff base of 95, including French and Vietnamese members.
5,000 learners enroll each year in French language courses.
L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center opened its
doors in 2003 in a historical art deco style building
that was completely renovated with funds from
French cooperation. It is located in downtown Hanoi
in a cultural quarter where many galleries and book
stores are lined up in proximity to two other cultural
dissemination centers, the National Opera House
and the Workers’ Theater that regularly feature
shows that it produces.
For more information:
Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché – Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center
Email:[email protected]
The IDECAF in Ho Chi Minh City
The IDECAF (Institut d’échanges culturels avec la
France / Institute for Cultural Exchanges with France) is
an institution established under Vietnamese law,
under aegis ofthe Foreign Relations Departmentofthe
Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee. It is the focal
point for a number of mainstays of French-Vietnamese
cooperation: promotion of the French language,
cultural and audiovisual initiatives,promotion of study
in France. This institution is a leading partner of the
Cooperation and Cultural Affairs office in Ho Chi Minh
City that produces the “SCAC-IDECAF”cultural agenda
published every two months in 3,000 copies.In 2006,it
received a grant of € 61,000 from the SCAC, to which
must be added another € 30,000 for book orders and
magazine subscription. It has seconded three French
experts to this institution,one for educational activities
and coaching the media center, one for Espace
EduFrance and one for audiovisual cooperation.
Its spacious, pleasant media center that opened in
January 2006 was set up with major input from both
the French and Vietnamese sides.Covering 800 square
meters,it is open to all publics.It contains some 20,000
items (5,000 of them are new) in all types of media
with random,uncontrolled access.It is frequently used
for lectures and reading sessions. It receives a very
respectable number of visitors and the figures keep on
increasing. The media center is home to a wellidentified “Image Pole” where DVDs, CD-ROMs,
cassettes and books can be consulted. It has a small
exhibition space.
58
The 320-seat performance facility (plans call for its
renovation) enables the IDECAF to host movie events
(short film festival, cartoon film festival, etc.) and to
have regular showings of French movies (one a week
with two billings). The hall is also used for concerts,
lectures and stage plays.The exhibition hall is a venue
for the presentation of artists,both local and French.
French language instruction is the mainstay of the
IDECAF.Itholds four 11-week sessions a year for 5,000 to
6,000 different students (10,000 to 11.000 enroll every
year). Courses are given by a team of 60 teachers
(50 Vietnamese and 10 French). Although there has
been a slight drop in numbers for general French (due
in part to competition from other language centers),
there has been an increase in enrollment in courses for
young people (6- to 16-year-olds). Efforts have been
continued to implement new teaching strategies
(such as introduction of the Campus method,
curriculum planning based on European standards,
matching the course offer with that of the Hanoi
French Cultural Center).
The IDECAF also offers specific courses relating to
cooperation projects: courses for FFI doctors, preparatory courses for study in France (ASIUT program)
and language training for Vietnamese government
scholarship holders. The institute has confirmed its
function as an examination center. In addition to a
monthly session for French-language proficiency
testing, an initial DELF-Junior session was held at the
national level in 2006.
The IDECAF continues to be home to Espace EduFrance,
a service that provides information for Vietnamese
students applying to study in France. Since the
establishment of CampusFrance, Espace EduFrance is
working more closely with the Center for Study in
France (headquartered in the Consulate General), that
performs applicant assessment and registration in
educational institutions.
For more information:
Dominique d’Ollone, Cooperation and Cultural
Affairs Attaché,SCAC,Ho Chi Minh City
Email:[email protected]
Francophony Month
Each year, francophony celebrations take place
countrywide for over a month. They find a particular
echo due to their wide appeal to youth,the wide array
of events and strong media coverage. A schedule is
developed by the Francophone Embassies,
Delegations and Institutions Group (Groupe des
Ambassades, Délégations et Institutions Francophones – GADIF), the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, the Asia-Pacific regional office of the International Organization of Francophony, with the
active involvement of the French cultural network in
Vietnam.
Francophone festivities have grown with each
successive installment and are now enjoying an
outstanding reach. The attractiveness of the cultural
programming and initiatives undertaken to promote
francophone use are a further illustration of the great
diversity of francophony in Vietnam. A major cultural
event in the country, Francophony Month is
celebrated countrywide in Vietnam and mobilizes
hundreds of partners who contribute to the
successful holding of many different activities
undertaken in the key cities as well as in the many
primary, secondary and higher education institutions. Over 100,000 persons share in the different
events.
The celebration of francophony in all its forms is well
received from year to year.It is playing an increasingly
important role as a unifying factor and is enjoying an
outstanding level of civil society involvement.
For more information:
Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché – Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center
Email:[email protected]
Cultural Affairs and Francophony
59
A priority in France’s cultural initiatives in Vietnam is
dissemination of contemporary creation in the key
areas of the arts, promoting the diversification of
culture actors and their professionalization. Particular
emphasis is placed on the emergence of author
production, exchanges among creators and
professionals from both countries as well as the
transfer of expertise. France’s cooperation in Vietnam
in the cultural and artistic fields features the promotion
of cultural diversity based on universal values.Since the
opening of L’Espace-French Cultural Center in the fall of
2003, the Embassy has redefined the strategic
challenges of its cultural policy and restructured its
operational arms based on specific purposes. Thus
endowed with a fresh potential, the Embassy has
pursued its objectives according to four priority pillars:
1. Support for contemporary creation in the
diversity of its expressions: promotion of French
artists and support for young Vietnamese
creators.
2. Deepening of cooperation programs already
underway (contemporary dance and symphony
music under the FSP “Support for the Cultural
Development of Vietnam”; fashion, photography
and theater); these ambitious programs link
training and creation in an approach that
highlights skills transfer.
3. Promotion of interchange among French and
Vietnamese artists.
4. Development of European and francophone
cooperation in the field of culture.
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
The image and commitment of France in the field of
culture, the density and diversity of its programs
linked to the potential for developing partnerships
notably with prestigious Vietnamese cultural
institutions, cooperation arrangements at the
European and francophone levels, have enabled the
Embassy to occupy the role of leading stakeholder in
foreign culture in Vietnam.
Since 2003, the Embassy has been able to make
good use of its tools - L’Espace-Hanoi French
Cultural Center and the Image Pole in the IDECAF in
Ho Chi Minh City - both venues opening in the fall of
2003 after an extensive remake.These two facilities
are now the focal points of the Embassy’s cultural
cooperation initiatives in the two largest cities of
the country. L’Espace coordinates and implements
the cultural programming in a broad array of artistic
fields in keeping with the center’s generalist
cultural vocation. To date, the SCAC office in Ho Chi
Minh City has primarily used the IDECAF in the
framework of a partnership approach that links
leading cultural actors in the city. Since 2005, this
streamlined mechanism has been expanded and is
based on a redefinition of the strategic challenges
of our cultural policy and restructuring of our
operational arms based on the Partnership
Framework Document signed between the two
governments in September 2006. The cultural
center’s branch in Hue that was set up in 2005 is
proving to be a relay of the Embassy’s cultural
initiatives in Thua Thien-Hue province and Da Nang.
For more information:
Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché – Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center
Email:[email protected]
Courses Offered by L’Espace-CCF
up to French and francophone cultures.The purpose is
to generate an influential francophony and reinforce
the attractiveness of France with the local elite,
present and future. A high-caliber educational team
made up of native-speaking francophone teachers
and trained Vietnamese teachers,all experienced and
driven by learner results, is contributing to the recognized quality of the instruction given and to the
growing reach of the institution. A multi-year on-thejob training program for the teachers has been
developed in order to update their knowledge and
thus upgrade the quality of the service offered.
60
As a major player in France’s linguistic initiatives in
Vietnam, the course facility of L’Espace-Hanoi French
Cultural Center offers instruction to over 5,000
students each year.It has 11 lecture rooms.Its studentcentered French language teaching approach is open
to anyone from primary level to advanced, with
emphasis on communication, interactivity and the
acquisition of cultural knowledge that are musts in
any linguistic learning.The course component aims to
disseminate the French language through an opening
The teaching of French at L’Espace-Hanoi CCF is based
on two approaches in order to meet the specific needs
of France-Vietnam cooperation as well as to promote
individual projects, both university and vocational
based:
1. Tailored courses are developed according to the
specific needs of companies, government offices and
institutions that would like to provide training to
their employees in French.The curriculum, frequency
and length of such courses vary depending on the
needs and objectives of each learner group. Such
courses are often provided to meet the specific needs
of France-Vietnam cooperation in the framework of
various Priority Solidarity Fund projects or for the
promotion of study in France for targeted publics,
including students selected for scholarship study by
the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training,
upcoming managerial staff in large corporate
structures (PetroVietnam). For convenience, these
courses can be taken at L’Espace or on site. In 2006, a
total of 5,916 hours of tailored courses was tallied up.
2. Regular courses are open to anyone 16 years of age
or older who would like to learn French or move
through the intermediate and advanced levels.
Different programs have been set up to meet
individual needs: standard French, French for oral
communication, written French. Each session is 10
weeks long.Regular courses are designed to promote
individual academic or professional projects that
require mastery of French (such as top-level
preparatory linguistic training prior to leaving for a
study program or professional training in France).
Their key focus is a growing number of individuals
who have made the personal decision to receive
instruction in French for a university or professional
training project (65 percent and 33 percent
respectively).This interest in subsequent academic or
professional training is resulting in a loyal public who
are studying for increasingly longer terms. There
were 5,005 enrolments in 2006 for four sessions
involving 2,120 different learners. It is noteworthy
that the demand for French courses at L’Espace-CCF
has been higher that the supply available, which is
evidence that Vietnamese youth are interested in
foreign languages in general and in French in
particular.
Tests for the DELF (diplôme d’études de langue
française / diploma of French language studies) and
DALF (diplôme approfondi de langue française /
advanced diploma of French language studies),
diplomas certifying language proficiency issued by
the French Ministry of National Education, are held
twice a year for students who have signed up at the
L’Espace-CCF.The success rates (91 percent for Unit B1,
81 percent for Unit B2, 100 percent for Unit C1) are a
testimony to the outstanding performance of the
institution.
Each learner taking French courses becomes a
L’Espace-CCF member and is entitled to the various
services offered by the establishment (media center,
shows, lectures, etc.).
For more information:
Lionel Sourisseau,Course Director,L’Espace-CCF
Email:[email protected]
Dissemination of the French Language
Vietnam and Francophony
French is the mother tongue or acquired language of
181 million people throughout the world. It is also the
founding link between 56 countries and territories
that have become members of the International
Organization of Francophony. Since becoming a
member of this organization in 1970, Vietnam’s
involvement in francophony is fleshed out by its
membership in international bodies that use French
as a working language.
Out of Vietnam’s population of 83 million, only an
estimated 160,000 people use French as a matter of
practical necessity, while 200,000 use it casually. To
this figure must be added the 190,000 persons
learning French (considered to be partially
francophone), totaling 550,000 speakers or less than
0.7 percent of the overall population.
61
French Language Instruction Programs
In the Education System
The key objective of French cooperation in this sector
is the long-range promotion of instruction in the
French language while working along with the spirit
and form now prevailing in the new directions of the
Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training
(MOET) for revamping the country’s education
system.
Subsequent to the June 2005 amendment of the
Education Law (1998), the new national project for
learning and teaching foreign languages identifies
English as the primary foreign language, while
stressing the importance of French instruction
among the four languages officially taught.
From an administrative point of view, instruction in
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
Curriculum
Program
Students enrolled
French L.L.1 100 to 150 hrs/yr
120 000
(standard curriculum)
for 7 years
L.L.1 – intensive
200 to 350 hrs/yr
1600
(optional classes)
for 3 years
“From/into”French
250 hrs/year
16 240
(bilingual classes)
for 7 or 12 years
Living Language 2
75 hrs/yr
35 000
(upper secondary school)
for 3 years
Advanced
180 hrs/yr
17110
LL2
for 2 to 4 years
French in Vietnam is broken down into two curricula
(Living Language 1 and Living Language 2) and from a
didactical point of view based on four distinct
streams.
Maintaining this diversity makes it possible to match
the supply with the demand in each province and
take into account the resources available, but more
importantly to maintain, with a base level of nearly
200,000 learners, an honorable dissemination of the
French language in the educational system.
In 2006, the 1,610 teachers of these curricula account
for approximately 4 percent of foreign language
teachers in Vietnam.
In University or Advanced Study
Programs
While preparing young Vietnamese to continue their
higher education in France or in francophone space,
the variety of curricula for French instruction also
enables a variety of directions to be taken in the
higher education sector in Vietnam, which now
embodies over 17,000 students learning French.They
include:
62
- 22 percent in the FUFs (Filières Universitaires
Francophones / Francophone University Streams):
civil and urban engineering, agronomy/ biothech/
agribusiness, economics and management,
geography and tourism, medicine and health, law,
computer science and new technology, chemistryenvironment.
- 33 percent of the seven French departments and
two teacher training colleges that provide the basic
pre-service training of French teachers.
- 45 percent are pursuing various studies with French
as an optional subject or LL2, in various streams of
excellence supported by France and multilateral
cooperation: the Hanoi Polytechnical Institute, the
Advanced School of Civil Engineering in Hanoi, the
Polytechnical School of the University of Da Nang,the
Polytechnical School of the National University of
HCMC, the CFVG of the Advanced School of National
Economics in Hanoi, the Francophone Computer
Sciences Institute of Hanoi, the France-Vietnam Law
Institute or the French University Poles (National
Universities of Hanoi and HCMC).
Linguistic Skills Development for Personal
or Professional Projects
For some years now, in response to the specific
demand for language instruction or skills development, other structures that teach French have
sprung up in Vietnam with the support of French
cooperation:
- Linguistic Courses to Obtain Certificates or Diplomas
Considered as a must to obtain a scholarship and tied
in with the validation of the programs offered by
francophone universities, DELF/DALF certificates or
the TCF assessment (knowledge of French test) are a
major motivation to study French. Thus, all of the
French language teaching or training centers in
Vietnam (five centers for French, one institute for
cultural exchanges with France, two advanced
schools of foreign language, eight teacher training
faculties, two centers for specialized French, 11
institutions linked to the medical French program, 41
francophone university chains) offer learners in their
catchment areas a level of training that includes
preparation for these examinations.
Nevertheless,there is a decrease noted in the number
of enrolments for the new DELF certifications. This is
due in part to the increasing competition from the
“knowledge of French” test (TCF) required by the
Center for Study in France prior to a student’s
departure for study in France. There is also a lack of
qualified staff in the high end of these diplomas.
- Learning French for Specific Purposes
Such training programs (preparation for specialized
French examinations, training of professional
interpreters and translators, French for medical staff)
are widely sought after by Vietnamese students who
need to round out their university studies with
professional, degree-earning training, as well as by
professionals and managerial staff. Thus, in addition
to an original “French-style”teaching of French at the
Hanoi French Cultural Center and the IDECAF
(Institut d’échanges culturels avec la France /
Institute for Cultural Exchanges with France) in
HCMC,three major pillars of specialty French training
have been developing over the last several years:
- The Center for Continuing Training in Specialty
French (Centre de Formation Continue en Français de
Spécialité – CFC), which offers courses to prepare for
Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP)
examinations and handles a flow of 750 students per
session throughout the year (two sessions annually),
divided up into some thirty classes.
- The Training Center for Interpreters and Translators
(Centre de formation d’interprètes et de traducteurs –
32 clubs in Vietnam:
NORTH:
Association d’Amitié Vietnam-France – AAVF Hanoï
Cercle des Anciens Elèves Francophones - CAEF Hanoï
Club Anciens Stagiaires Techniques - CASTEF Hanoï
Cercle des Francophones de Hanoï
Centre Unifié des Amis de la Francophonie -CUAF
Hanoï
Club des Amis (Hanoï)
Jouons avec le français – JAF Hanoï
Clé d’or Hanoï
Club étudiants francophones - ES d’Architecture
Hanoï
Cercle francophone de Hoa Xa- Ha Tay
Cercle francophone de Hai Duong
Filière de Médecine de Hai Phong
Espace francophone de l’Hôpital Viet Tiep- Hai Phong
Cercle Unesco Francophone de Hai Phong
Cercle francophone « 19-5 » de Hai Phong
CENTER:
Centre de la francophonie de Vinh (Côtes d’Armor)
Cercle francophone de Hue
Cercle francophone de Da Nang
Association d’Amitié franco-vietnamienne de Quang
Binh
Cercle francophone de Tam Ky-Quang Nam-Da Nang
SOUTH:
Cercle francophone de Da Lat
Association des francophones de Khanh Hoa (AFK)
Cercle Francophone de Nha Trang – CFNT
Association des admirateurs de Yersin
Maison de la Francophonie
Espace francophone LOTUS
Cercle francophone de Sa Dec
Cercle francophone de Cao Lanh
Cercle francophone de la province de Tien Giang
Cercle francophone de Ben Tre
Cercle des élèves du lycée de Soc Trang
Club francophone de Can Tho CFC
63
5,529
membres
900
350
400
180
400
60
100
25
60
15
160
126
40
20
200
140
103
430
60
25
60
28
15
700
400
35
25
80
17
95
250
30
CFIT) offers a two-year program for high-achieving
students who have their high school leaving
certificate plus 4, qualifying them for the national
translator-terminologist diploma and the conference
interpreter diploma.
- Medical French: 11 medical institutions or faculties of
medicine provide evening courses to over 500
learners (nurses,pharmacists,students from faculties
of medicine and doctors in particular, who are
candidates for the FFI program (Faisant Fonction
d’Interne).
PROMOTION AND DISSEMINATION OF THE FRENCH
LANGUAGE
- International Francophony Days provide an opportunity
to put together a concerted program of events at the level
of the Francophone Embassies,Delegations and Institutions
Group (GADIF), coordinated by the regional delegation of
the International Organization of Francophony (OIF).
These days are highlighted by events throughout the
country,initiated by a large number of schools,associations
and institutions that receive various forms of assistance
from the Embassy such as support for the organization of
competitions or festivities.
- Throughout the year, standby and follow-up activities are
also conducted for the 32 francophone clubs and
associations found throughout the country.
- As for the media, cooperation projects with the national
media also enable effective promotion of francophony:
educational programs, event reports (celebrations,
competitions, etc.) that are telecast over the national
television or on the education channel VTV2 and broadcast
on the air on national radio VOV.
- At the same time, a coordinated effort is being made to
highlight such things as the twinning of schools with
territorial communities.Currently there is a list of over thirty
affiliations between French and Vietnamese institutions for
the bilingual program.
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
Based on existing programs, this project aims to
strengthen the institutional capacities of the three
countries in the francophone zone of Southeast Asia
to lay a foundation for linguistic policies to ensure the
promotion of French and train qualified francophone
persons able to fit into the existing and emerging
sectors of the labor market.
Partnerships and cooperation
arrangements:
Rounding this out is the synergic involvement of
several technical and financial partners: the
Francophone University Agency (AUF), the International Organization of Francophony (OIF),WallonieBruxelles, the government of Québec, as well as
support from various local and territorial communities
(Côtes d’Armor, Poitou-Charentes, Rhône-Alpes, Île-deFrance, etc.) This has been of particular benefit to
bilingual instruction over the last 12 years, the MOET
has validated the setting up of a national plan for the
enhancement of French in the regional and multipartner framework of a new FSP project “VALOFRASE:
Valorisation du français en Asie du Sud-Est”
(Enhancement of French in Southeast Asia).
Support from the Embassy is therefore continuing
throughout 2007-2009 with a dovetailing of the
former project for the support of French language
instruction (2001 to 2005) with the new regional
framework of VALOFRASE, with the following
objectives at the national level:
-
-
-
Stabilize the bilingual program, coach the
revitalization of French LL1 and continue support
of the boost given to LL2 (high school/ university;
private/public).
Ensure the future of pre-service and on-the-job
training by strengthening the regional francophone university space.
Promote the francophone employment sector.
For more information:
Marie-Josée Vidal, Cooperation Attaché, L'EspaceHanoi CCF
Email: [email protected]
Cooperation in the Audiovisual Field
Initiatives led by the French Embassy in Vietnam in
the audiovisual field are far from limited to the
dissemination of French movies. It has a far vaster
overall mission:
Promoting the Motion Picture with All
Its Diversity
To achieve this objective, numerous wide-screen
movie showings are put on in Hanoi throughout the
year (at L’Espace-CCF, the Cinéclub of the Vietnamese
Filmmakers’ Association, the National Cinematography Center, etc.), in Ho Chi Minh City (IDECAF,
Cinébox), in Hue and Da Nang.
64
The scheduled movies are generally subtitled locally
(in French and/or Vietnamese) so that none of the
quality of the movies is lost and to contribute to a
friendly mixing of publics at every session.A hundred
or so different films (fictional, documentary, cartoon,
etc.) are thereby shown each year in the French
cultural network in Vietnam. Moreover, to go along
with and reinforce the impact of these different
operations, French officials are regularly invited to
introduce the films to the public.
In 2006, during the second installment of the French
film festival “Panorama Cannes,” producers Tony
Gatlif and Denis Dercourt and actress Déborah
François came to introduce their films in Vietnam.
The same year,99 screenings of this nature were held in
Hanoi (for a total audience of 13,543) and 87 screenings
in Ho Chi Minh City (for a total audience of 7,100).
The French centers out in the provinces also received
considerable support for their programming in 2006,
with the holding of major film events in Da Nang (five
screenings for 882 viewers) and Hue (60 showings
and 2,418 viewers in 2006).
Considerable attention was given to the promotion
of Vietnamese movie making. The Embassy
supported the promotion and dissemination of
Vietnamese films both abroad (in France in
particular) and in its own cultural network in
Vietnam. This made it possible to get several firsttime productions by young directors out before a
wide audience, such as “Living in Fear” by Bui Thac
Chuyen and “Pao’s Story” by Ngô Quang Hai, who
were invited to L’Espace to introduce their films in
2007.
Enhancing the Offer of French
Audiovisual, Musical and Motion Picture
Programs
For several years now, this aspect of French
cooperation has been supporting development
projects of CFI (Canal France International), TV5 and
RFI (Radio France Internationale) in Vietnam. These
operators have made it possible to disseminate
many French programs (audiovisual or musical) in
Vietnam directly or through local replays.
Additionally, in liaison with UNIFRANCE, the
Embassy has enjoyed quality contacts with the main
distributors and operators of foreign movies in
Vietnam despite the fact that this is a newly
emerging sector.
French music is present on the airwaves in Vietnam
thanks to Francophony Diffusion which has made its
CDs available for various VOV programs. French and
francophone music is thus on the air in Vietnam (AM
and FM) for about three hours a week.
Supporting Vietnamese Audiovisual and Motion
Picture Creation
• Help to promote Vietnamese cinema in the
francophone world such as through film festivals
(Clermont-Ferrand, Vesoul, Créteil, Namur,
Amiens, Deauville,Vaux-en-Velin).
• Assist the organization of training workshops in
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,as well as the project
“10 months, 10 short feature films” by TPD, an
association of young talent under the Association
of Vietnamese Filmmakers.
• Publication in Vietnamese of French reference
books on moving-making techniques.
• Back-up assistance for production using
resources provided by the francophone world: to
date, six Vietnamese feature films have received
support from the Fonds Sud (Developing
Countries Fund) for cinema.
• Make a scholarship available for study at the La
Fémis Summer Program (National Film School of
France).
• Facilitate things so that Vietnamese producers
and directors can access francophone production
and distribution assistance, such as the Fonds
Sud.
Coaching Vietnamese Media
Development
L’Espace has been providing assistance for many
years for the training of Vietnamese journalists and
media professionals. This support led to the
establishment in 2003 of the Skills Development
Center for Vietnamese Journalists and the awarding
of many study scholarships to francophone
journalists. (See below.)
For more information:
Fabrice Turri, Audiovisual Attaché,
L’Espace-Hanoi CCF
Email: [email protected]
Skills Development Program for Vietnamese
Journalists
65
Since the early 1990s French cooperation has been
funding many training activities for Vietnamese
journalists whether French-speaking or not,
involving the print media, radio, television and now
the Internet.
In the light of the results achieved, the Vietnamese
Journalists’ Association (Association des Journalistes
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
Vietnamiens – AJV) expressed the wish to receive
assistance from France to set up within it a long-term
continuing education structure known as the Skills
Development Center for Vietnamese Journalists
(SDCJ). In response, an FSP project with an initial
envelope of € 911,569 has been operating for over
three years now in cooperation with the Advanced
School of Journalism (École Supérieure de Journalisme – ESJ) in Lille. The purpose is to support the
development and reach of this center by improving
the quality and relevance of the instruction it
provides particularly in the audiovisual and multimedia sectors and by helping to establish a nucleus
of trainers from the principal editorial offices and
schools in Vietnam.
This project is national in scope (now involving over
450 journalists) and is geared to promote the role of
journalists in Vietnamese society and to enhance the
general level of the profession.
This is a three-point project:
-
-
Holding skills development and trainer training
workshops.
The provision of digital audiovisual equipment
(television,radio,multimedia) adapted to the needs
of the Vietnamese professionals.
Setting up a journalism resource center, including
the regular production of school journals on
various themes (tourism development,the Festival
of Hue,Agent Orange,AIDS and drug addiction),as
well as the publication in Vietnamese of two
instructional reference books.
The FSP was extended to December 13, 2007 in order
to round out the concluding activities:continue work
on the publication of guidebooks on journalism,
develop a circular outlining the SDCJ training options
available and hold further trainer training sessions on
a regional basis.
For more information:
Audiovisual and Media Office, L’Espace-Hanoi CCF
Email: [email protected]
Maintaining Cultural Diversity
by Promoting Contemporary Creation
and Enhancement of Vietnam’s Heritage
Cultural Diversity and Promotion of Contemporary
Creation
66
The cultural and artistic initiatives of the Embassy are
based on the promotion and enhancement of
contemporary creation based on three major pillars:
contemporaneity/culture and economics/culture
and heritage, with priority focus on the visual arts
field and contemporary dance. A particular effort is
being put forth in the direction of the circus and
street arts along with architecture in cooperation
with the concerned Vietnamese institutions. In 2007
its programming will continue to highlight the
creation of First French Spring in Hanoi, a multi-
disciplinary festival,and Image Month in Ho Chi Minh
City, which will be major meeting places of French
and French-Vietnamese contemporary creation.
Innovation in the fields of theater, “now” music and
jazz in particular continues to be privileged as well as
cooperation programs for symphony music, photography and video creation. An ongoing priority is the
promotion of exchanges among contemporary
French and Vietnamese artists.
The directions are determined by the volition shared
with our Vietnamese partners to achieve a threshold
of excellence in our initiatives for operation and
dissemination in one or more given fields. The
promotion of long-term cooperation arrangements
with prestigious artists and/or well-known cultural
institutions - Ballet Atlantique Régine Chopinot /
Xavier Rist, Poitou-Charentes orchestra, the French
Fashion Institute, the Advanced National School of
Photography in Arles - is also an essential criteria.The
third major factor is the need to offer new fields in
contemporary creation in Vietnam (hip-hop dancing,
electronic music,video creation,new circus,etc.).With
such long-term feature initiatives and putting on
one-time events, a permanent tie-in can be
maintained with the ebullient situation that prevails
in the various fields of the arts that we are
supporting. The Embassy chose to diversify the
artistic choices so as to present a broader array of
contemporary French creation while developing
things in cultural areas that had not previously been
given much attention. The Embassy initiates and
supports projects and productions resulting from
artistic cooperation between the two countries. This
is shown in co-productions guided by the Embassy
for the fourth installment of the Festival of Hue:
Cercles de Sable (Sand Circles),a theater play put on by
the Tuong National Theater and the Monte-Charge
Theater in Pau; The Memory. Drought and Rain.
Volume 2,the latest choreographic creation of Ea Sola
with 16 dancers from the Vietnam Opera Ballet; Tim
Gio (Search for the Wind), a musical work performed
by the Mezcal Jazz Unit and four popular jazz
musicians in Vietnam.
Cultural initiatives are in keeping with a project
approach that gives special consideration to
multiyear partner programs that enable a genuine
skills and expertise transfer. The Embassy maintains
and develops a close cooperation relationship with
the local authorities in order to put on activities and
events that are closely in line with their expectations.
“Young Looks”Competition
Established first in 2001 in partnership with the Fine Arts
Association of Vietnam, this nation-wide competition is
contributing to the emergence of young,talented plastic artists.
The prize winner receives a three-month course at the École
Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (National Advanced
School of Fine Arts) in Paris, which plays a pivotal role in
promoting plastic arts in Vietnam under the guidance of the
Embassy.
67
Diversity and creativity are the bywords when lining
up visual art events. Throughout the year, the
Embassy chose to organize a series of exhibitions on
the theme of “Looks,”showcasing the work of French
and Vietnamese artists.The idea is to nurture cultural
dialogue and mutual interchange among the
cultures and artistic disciplines. Contemporary
creation in all its forms is highlighted: video,
installations, paintings; examples of this approach,
video exhibition,selection of video creations of junior
artists supported by Le Fresnoy (VidéoFresnoy
exhibition put on in April 2006) and the photography
of Liza Nguyen on memory (Surfaces). Generally
speaking, both in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,
exhibitions offer a diversified panorama of contemporary creation with alternating shows by French and
Vietnamese artists.
Diversified programming is offered in the performing
arts sector. Several shows with a high artistic rating
for the general public are regularly put on by
Vietnamese and French performers: Compagnie
Adrien M, with Circasia, for circus arts; concerts by
Julien Loura and his quartet, Bojan Z for jazz;
Astonvilla for “now” music; theater reading of
excerpts from books of Marguerite Duras by Yann
André for theater.
The Embassy also moved forward in developing the
dissemination of scientific and technological
cultures, promoting economics and social sciences,
with special attention to events featuring academic
discussions. Lecture series are frequently put on
featuring distinguished guest speakers.
For more information:
* Hanoi
Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché, Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center
Email:[email protected]
Vanina Sopsaisana,Deputy Cultural Attaché
Email:[email protected]
* Ho Chi Minh City:
Jany Bourdais, Cultural Attaché, Consulate General
of France
Email: [email protected]
* Hue :
Gaelle Le Yaouanc, Director, French Cultural Center
Email: [email protected]
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
France a Central Figure in Festivals in Vietnam:
French Springtime in Hanoi – Festival of Hue –
Image Month in Ho Chi Minh City
Driven by the meeting of cultures in both countries,
French cultural cooperation in Vietnam focuses on
contemporary creation. In 2007 two events were
initiated in this framework, the First French Springtime in Hanoi and Image Month in Ho Chi Minh City,
both of which are significant meeting places for
artistic creation in all its forms. In 2008, the Embassy
will share in the fifth installment of the Festival of
Hue that it got underway in 2000. The exceptional
creativity and wealth of artistic heritage in both
France and Vietnam are an obvious basis for developing cooperation projects throughout the year and
promoting the major flow of creators and professionals from both countries,with special emphasis on
French Springtime in Hanoi.
First French Springtime
The First French Springtime in Hanoi is a multifaceted
event devoted to contemporary creation involving
various artistic forms that get people together and
promote dialogue. This event is held every second
year alternating with the Festival of Hue. It showcases the various aspects of our cultural cooperation
in Vietnam. Bold artistic forms and esthetics are
merged in an original colorful setting, alongside
innovative productions from France that reflect the
ingenuity and dynamics of the contemporary stage
in our country. This new event is one that enables
greater enrichment and anchoring of dialogue
between our cultures, highlighting both familiar and
unfamiliar contemporary expressions, while promoting exchanges among artists and creators of the
two countries. It is proving to be a highly successful
tool in terms of cultural diversity and France-Vietnam
friendship.
Image Month
Image Month is designed to display the principles of
discovery, exchange and comparison of works by
68
French, Vietnamese and Southeast-Asian artists, to
showcase works in various mediums and thus
provide a broad reflection of the diversity of
contemporary production, emphasize popular
themes chosen by young Vietnamese artists (cityscapes, portraits), thereby putting in place a genuine
basis for interchange and comparison and stressing
the notion of a educational element in a very broad
sense, which is essential at all stages of the
programming.
Festival of Hue
The Festival of Hue was first put on in 2000 at the
incentive of the Embassy of France in Vietnam,
CulturesFrance and Thua Thien-Hue province. The
idea is to generate a major cultural event in Vietnam
highlighting the architectural heritage of the city,the
citadel in particular,and setting a “national stage”for
contemporary creation. This biannual festival enjoys
international renown and attracts artists from
abroad and all corners of Vietnam. It has become a
melting pot of passion for heritage, tradition and
contemporary creation, a rendez-vous of cultures
wherein creation and tradition intertwine in a space
fraught with memory, where the alchemy of
interpretations is attracting more and more people
with a broader range of interests.France supports the
event through its active involvement in the programming designed to display the fruitage of its cultural
cooperation in Vietnam and showcase productions
originating from France.
For more information:
* Hanoi
Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché, Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center
Email:[email protected]
Vanina Sopsaisana,Deputy Cultural Attaché
Email:[email protected]
* Ho Chi Minh City:
Jany Bourdais, Cultural Attaché, Consulate General
of France
Email: [email protected]
Support for Cultural Development in Vietnam
Thanks to implementation of a number of crosscutting training programs between Vietnam and
France, the “Support for Cultural Development in
Vietnam” project is training operators belonging to
a new economics of culture, one which involves in
the technical, artistic and management spheres in
order to provide the live entertainment sector with
the means to become a viable, standalone economic factor of development. This ambition requires the putting in place of training for cultural
show technicians, performers and managers who
will be able to help structure this major sector. Since
it began in 2003, this FSP project has received total
funding in the amount of € 1.4 million and has
three key thrust areas:
Training in Entertainment Technology
A Center for Training in Entertainment Technology
was established in the Hanoi School of Theater and
Cinema. Organized with the support of a specialized
French agency, the training program is enabling
technicians to hone their skills in audio, light and
stage floor control. At the conclusion of their training
they are qualified to work with major cultural events
and improve the quality of the creation itself,
audience intake and dissemination of all forms of live
show throughout the country and internationally.
69
Artistic Training
Cooperation between France and Vietnam has been
going on for several years in the sectors of
contemporary dance and symphony music in Hanoi
and Ho Chi Minh City. It is supported by holding
workshops with prestigious French performers in
Vietnam as well as having Vietnamese performers
spend time in France in order to develop top-quality
artistic ensembles.
Cultural Engineering
Managers in the culture sector working in various
parts of the country with various institutions and
cultural ventures are given training based on French
expertise while being observant of Vietnamese
specificities.Such training is helping decision-makers
to work the new legal and economic challenges
confronting the sector into their professional
approach and acquire the managerial techniques
needed for the smooth running of a cultural institution or department.
For more information:
Valérie Lesbros, Project Manager
Email: [email protected]
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
Enhancing Vietnam’s Museographical Heritage
After the first year spent identifying museographical
directions and programs, support for the layout of
exhibition halls is now focusing on scenography
studies that are expected to be completed by late
2007. That means that during 2008 work will get
underway on renovation operations or new layouts in
Vietnam’s museums: opening of modeling halls and
photo libraries in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City,
along with the preparation of exhibits for newly
established museums. Training programs are being
continued in parallel and will be fleshed out in 2007
with the setting up of two computer databases for
the management of collections, overall refurbishment of the stone collections in the modeling halls of
the Cham Museum and Museum of History and the
putting in place of public observatories in five
museums.
The FSP project “Renewing and Enhancing Vietnam’s
Museographical Heritage” got underway in the
summer of 2005. This cooperation arrangement
brings together expertise and training programs to
help with museum upgrading and creation while
building staff capacity. Five of Vietnam’s leading
museums are cooperating with prestigious French
cultural institutions.
With support from the expert staff of the Quai Branly
Museum, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in
Hanoi and the Dak Lak Museum in Buon Ma Thuot
(central highlands region) are expected to have two
major extensions put on,the first to house collections
of Southeast Asia,the second the history and peoples
of the Dak Lak region. At the same time, Guimet
National Museum of Asian Art and the French School
of Asian Studies (École française d’Extrême-Orient –
EFEO) are working with the Da Nang Museum of
Cham Sculptures and the Ho Chi Minh City Museum
of History to set up two modeling halls to house
restored collections in a new scenography. The
Nicéphore Nièpce Museum of Photography
(Chalons-sur-Marne) and the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City are working to come up
with a digitalized photo library to ensure the preservation of photo collections.
70
Some ten different subjects will be taught and over
70 senior management staff of Vietnamese museums will be trained. They in turn will transfer their
newly acquired knowledge to staff in other museums of Vietnam.
For more information:
Emmanuel Fuentes, Project Manager
Email: [email protected]
Multilateral Cultural Cooperation
The Embassy is developing activities with its
institutional and diplomatic partners from other
countries present in Vietnam.In addition to the many
operations that were carried out with institutions
belonging to the francophone sphere,the Embassy is
also carrying out cultural projects with other
European countries represented, as well as with the
Delegation of the European Commission. Not to be
overlooked are projects organized with the Goethe
Institute under the “Elysée”fund.Multilateral cultural
cooperation is a particularly strong feature in two
groups:
Francophony: Francophone Embassies, Delegations
and Institutions Group (Groupe des Ambassades,
Délégations et Institutions francophones – GADIF).
On a yearly basis since 2003, francophony is
celebrated throughout the month of March by
means of many events put on in Vietnam’s major
cities.In cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the GADIF determines the programming to be featured during the month-long francophony celebration.The key events are:
• Francophone Film Festival
• Official Francophony Evening, March 20
•
•
•
•
National Competitions
Concerts
Exhibitions
Conferences
Europe : The group of European Culture Officers.
Throughout the year, various events are held under
the aegis of the Delegation of the European Commission in Vietnam with the participation of the
European countries that are represented. France uses
its cultural institution to make an essential contribution to the successful holding of the key events and
promoting the Europe of the 27.
- European Jazz Festival
- Europe Day
- European Film Festival
- European Book Fair
For more information:
Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché – Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center
Email:[email protected]
The Nguyen Van Vinh Publishing Aid Program (PAP)
The Nguyen Van Vinh Publishing Aid Program (PAP)
was set up in 1990 to assist Vietnamese publishers
who are in a long-term commitment to publish
works of various French authors in French, Vietnamese or bilingually: literature and fiction, the
humanities and social studies, science and technology, youth, art and culture, etc.
-
In a country that has traditionally held to the written
word as a vector of culture and knowledge,but where
poor purchasing power is limiting access to books,
the PAP highlights three priorities:
The assistance given by the Cultural and Cooperation
Center of the French Embassy in Vietnam varies according to the project submitted, but it never exceeds 50
percent of the total cost of publication. It generally
covers all or part of the loading cost and paper and/or
the cost of translation. The French Ministry of Foreign
Affairs covers the copyright. The partner publisher is
responsible for the other remaining costs of publication
and handles the distribution.
-
71
Reduce the selling price of books by 20 to 40
percent compared to the market price and ensure
free distribution to the main public reading
facilities in Vietnam.
-
See to the quality of the translations published
and encourage publishers to recognize the skills
of professional translators by paying them
appropriately.
Support local publishers in their efforts to professionalize their trade by having definite editorial
policies and complying with copyright laws.
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
The PAP is a key component of France’s culture
dissemination policy in Vietnam and has led to the
publishing of nearly 400 titles in 16 years. In 2006,
38 projects were supported by this program. These
translations are having a real impact in a country
where the French reading public remains small. It
comes in response to a demand from Vietnamese
Nguyen Van Vinh (1882-1936) is an iconic figure in the history of
French-Vietnamese cultural exchange. He was a journalist,
translator, publisher and printer and held the position of senior
editor for a number of the firstVietnamese newspapers to use the
Quoc Ngu writing system as well as magazines published in
French such as Annam Nouveau which he founded in 1931. He
played an active part in spreading French culture in Vietnam
through his translations of many French authors such as Molière,
Victor Hugo, Balzac, Alexandre Dumas and La Fontaine, thus
giving generations of young Vietnamese the opportunity to come
in touch with French thinking and culture.
readers who enjoy or actually prefer books that were
originally written in French. In this way the program
has put alongside classical authors such as Victor
Hugo, Balzac, Molière other writers such as Didier
Deaninckx and André Velter who were recently
invited to Vietnam and Louis-Ferdinand Céline,Daniel
Pennac, Françoise Dolto, Philippe Claudel, François
Weyergans. In keeping with the guideline that puts
priority on contemporary literature,social studies and
the humanities, the PAP has also been working on a
major program over the last two years to publish
youth-oriented books with the support of the FSP
Fund “Giving Prominence to the Written Word in
Southeast Asia”(Valorisation de l’écrit en Asie du SudEst – VALEASE).
For more information:
Do Thi Minh Nguyet
Program Officer, L’Espace-Hanoi CCF
Email: [email protected]
Giving Prominence to the Written Word
in Southeast Asia
72
The FSP developmental project VALEASE was started
in 2005 with the key objectives of strengthening
regional cooperation on a long-term basis in the area
of the written word, improving technical skills and
networking stakeholders in the book industry, while
at the same time lending its support to public
reading in Southeast Asia.
The training program for stakeholders in the book
industry that started in 2005 has been continued. In
addition to on-the-job language instruction, two
“Paul Boudet” courses were held. The first one was
directed to book sellers while the second, held in
cooperation with the National Documentation and
Scientific Information Center, focused on training
librarians and documentalists. These training
programs made it possible to raise the awareness of
Vietnamese professionals regarding French technology and expertise in the book field and
consolidate the development of a network of francophone professionals. In this networking approach,
funding was provided from VALEASE for the Director
of the National Library of Vietnam in Hanoi and the
Director of the Library of General Sciences in Ho Chi
Minh City to attend the 100th Congress of the
Association of French Librarians in Paris.
A parallel initiative was conducted for Vietnamese
publishers in order to encourage the publication of
books for young people, notably in synergy with the
Embassy’s Publishing Aid Program (PAP). Thus 40
books were published in 2006. One Vietnamese
publisher was invited to the Young People’s Book Fair
in Montreuil in 2006.
The program is also involved in the archive sector. A
guidebook on documents kept at the Hanoi Archive
Center No. 2 was published. Two Vietnamese archivists were given training in France through the
“Courants” course arranged by the Ministry of
Culture.
The program for the digitizing of old French-language books on the shelves of libraries in the region
was pursued. The long-range goal is to build a digitized library of heritage collections. In 2006, about
2,500 books and other documents were digitized at
the National Library in Hanoi,in the Library of General
Sciences in Ho Chi Minh City as well as at the Institute
for Cultural Exchanges with France in Ho Chi Minh
City. In the latter establishment, an initial lot of 500
digitized books is now accessible to the public using a
search engine. A database is being made containing
the notes for all digitized books in the region.
VALEASE also provided support in the form of
expertise for the establishment of a space for young
people at the Hanoi French Cultural Center and for
renovation of the media center in the Institute for
Cultural Exchanges with France in Ho Chi Minh City.
For more information:
* Hanoi
Do Thi Minh Nguyet
Program Officer, L’Espace-Hanoi CCF
Email: [email protected]
* Ho Chi Minh City
Patrick Coustance
Cooperation Attaché, SCAC, Ho Chi Minh City
Email: [email protected]
Media Center Plan
In Hanoi
The media center located in L’Espace-Hanoi French
Cultural Center is the largest in all of Vietnam for the
number of contemporary French documents. It
makes a collection of 20,000 books, 3,000 audiovisual documents and a hundred or so French periodicals available to the public. With a view to
strengthening its role as a benchmark nationwide,
the “Media Center Plan”was implemented in 2006 to
put contemporary France closer to the Vietnamese
people, youth in particular, while at the same time
upgrading its facilities.
France in all mediums required for outreach in a
media center-clearinghouse devoted to France.
3. Training the staff by means of training sessions
set up by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
4. Acquisition of an antitheft system: walk-through
scanner and security stickers.
The project covers the following;
1. Structuring the facility for youth at L’Espace:
developing a extensive collection for youth
including fictional works/documentaries in all
mediums for children and teenagers; acquiring
good-quality, specific concept French modular
furniture as well as items to furnish the kiddies’
corner.
2. Setting up a reference collection on contemporary
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As an integral part of the project scheme, the media
center is at the heart of France’s cultural outreach and
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
cooperation action in Vietnam. The “Media Center
Plan” fits in with the strategy of solidarity and
influence that France is leading in Vietnam. It is
cognizant of the realities and priorities of present-day
Vietnam that is on a path of constant and fast-paced
change and is therefore putting emphasis on
contemporary issues and youth.
For more information:
Hubert Olié,Cultural Attaché
Director of L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center
Email:[email protected]
In Ho Chi Minh City:The IDECAF Media
Center
In the next few weeks the Center’s catalogue will be
put on line. An electronic newsletter will provide
information for regular members and broaden
awareness about the center.
The IDECAF’s “Indochina Collection” of 5,000 books
received assistance from the VALEASE project with its
focus on protecting and enhancing old Frenchlanguage books found in the libraries of Vietnam. All
of the data sheets for the Indochina Collection have
been put in the Media Center’s computer catalogue
and a selection of 500 books have been digitized in
image mode.They can now be consulted on location
using an interface designed to allow key-word
searches. An exhibition was put on at the Image Pole
to introduce excerpts from digitized flat pictures.
Established with financial assistance in the amount
of € 70,000 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
under the “Media Center Plan” and with technical
expertise mobilized in the VALEASE project, the
IDECAF Media Center has a very positive report at the
conclusion of its first year of operation, based on the
number of members, now 2,160, of which 80 percent
are Vietnamese.
In 2006, additional “Media Center Plan” funding of
€ 18,000 enabled the launching of a communication
and animation policy intended to widen out the
audience base:
-
Production and dissemination of communication
documents.
Organization of school tours.
Setting up regular animations (lectures by
writers, book readings, etc.).
Exhibitions.
For more information:
Dominique d’Ollone, Cooperation and Cultural
Affairs Attaché, SCAC, Ho Chi Minh City
Email: [email protected]
Governance and the Rule of Law
Cooperation in the Legal Field and the VietnameseFrench House of Law
When Vietnam began opening its doors in 1986,
updating its legal system and strengthening the rule
of law were immediately identified as top strategic
priorities for French cooperation.
74
In extending its cooperation with Vietnam to the
legal field, France is desirous of helping the country
integrate the international community and also open
up access to legal provisions for all in the country:
improve the quality of professional lawyer services,
support the Vietnamese government in setting an
order of priority for standards and the codification
process, advocate legal security through the stability
of laws in force, strengthen provisions for the
enforcement of court decisions, define the scope of
the various administrative jurisdictions and encourage administrative transparency.
constitutional state (rule of law), notably a computerized police record system, an efficient personal
identity system, a land registry, a register of moveable
and fixed assets and a trade register.It is already playing
a key role to this end in two projects:
-
Mapmaking. The international branch of the
National Geographic Institute (Institut géographique national – IGN-FI) deployed a four-year
support program that ended in October 2004,
linked with the Emerging Nations Reserve Fund
(Réserve Pays Émergents – RPE) for € 1.6 M, in cooperation with the General Department for Land
Administration (GDLA) and supported the Vietnam
Remote Sensing Center: mapmaking techniques,
satellite images,training sessions (ARPEGE project).
-
Legal support. The House of Law arranged several
seminars to enable Vietnam to develop an efficient,
consistent system of registering guarantees and
rights, notably with regard to the Civil Code, land
reform and securities law. The viability of such a
system is closely linked to computerizing the
notary offices of the country, an initiative to which
France is contributing through the FSP project
“Modernizing the Notarial Profession in Vietnam”
from October 2003 to September 2008 with an
envelope of € 1.5 M.
The key tool for our cooperation with Vietnam in the
legal field is the House of Law that was established in
February 1993 based on a bilateral agreement. An
amended version of this agreement was just signed in
March 2007 by the Ministers of Justice of both countries.
The House of Law has been working on a dual
mission over the last 14 years: providing assistance in
drafting Vietnamese laws and training legal
professionals. Every year it holds three regional
seminars and a dozen expert workshops to appraise
the various draft laws on the drawing board, six
training sessions for legal professionals: magistrates,
lawyers and notaries, and provides instruction in
legal French on its premises. The amended agreement gives it the means to adapt its initiatives more
closely with the new priorities of the government of
Vietnam.
The House of Law receives funding from various
sources of French official development assistance
(ODA): the Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP), funds
allocated to the Embassy, regional funds and
technical assistance.
France is also playing the role of coach and focal point
for the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice in the framework of the master plan for cooperation relations
between Vietnam and the European Union (EU-VN
Master Plan), adopted by decision of the Prime
Minister of Vietnam in June 2005. In this capacity, it
acts as a relay with the other Member Sates for
reform and cooperation priorities identified with the
Vietnamese Ministry of Justice.
France is also endeavoring to share in the development
of the legal tools necessary for the operation of a
For more information:
Emmanuelle Boulestreau
Deputy Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Counselor
Email:[email protected]
Administrative Reform in Vietnam
75
Public administration reform is one of the priorities of
the Vietnamese government that it has been
working on since the late 1990s in a government
modernization process with the support of the
international community.
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
Improving the administrative management of the
Vietnamese government through senior staff
training is therefore also one of the cross-cutting
priorities of French cooperation in Vietnam highlighted in the Partnership Framework Document. In
this area,France is offering assistance for Vietnamese
government and administrative reform, government
decentralization, strengthening local powers, defending the rule of law and public freedoms and
preventing corruption.
By maintaining an annual program of scholarships
for long or short study trips to the National School of
Administration (École nationale d’administration –
ENA), France wants to provide special support to
initiatives promoting the decentralization of certain
fields of jurisdiction by having them delegated to the
64 provinces, notably by training local government
officials in their planning and management duties.
-
With regard to financial administration, France is
providing ongoing funding through the ADETEF for
training sessions in its specialized elite schools:
customs, taxation, banking, government accounting
and government finance.
Furthermore, French decentralized or non-governmental cooperation is also making available substantial support for Vietnam’s administrative reform.
Indeed, virtually all projects being implemented by
the territorial communities or NGOs include a major
training component for officials on People’s Committees and for project partners.
For more information:
Nguyen Huy Khanh, Program Officer, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
France is also providing financial support for:
-
nized jointly by the ENA and countries in the
region, protocol internship).
Police cooperation between the two countries,
notably for technical training.
Training programs designed for leading officials
in the Vietnamese government (seminar orga-
Modernizing the Notarial Profession in Vietnam
The economic liberalization and rapid growth being
experienced in Vietnam have resulted in a tremendous
increase in transactions (contracts, real estate investments, mortgage credits). In a country that has made
the choice to promote Romano-Germanic written law,
notary offices are the surest way to get such
transactions properly written up and authenticated.
There are currently 135 such offices employing a staff of
over one thousand professionals throughout the
country.
French-Vietnamese cooperation in the area of notary
services started in 1993 at the incentive of the High
Council for the Notarial Profession (Conseil supérieur
du notariat – CSN) and was fleshed out by the signing
of an initial bilateral funding agreement in 1995 and a
grant from the FASEP (funding from the French
Ministry of Economy and Finance) in 1997,plus funding
in 2000-2001 from the CSN. Such funding assistance
from France has made it possible to establish a
comprehensive government computer network and
put together a Vietnamese version of the MASTER
software program to write up notarial instruments.
76
The current Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP) assistance in
the amount of €3.7 M was signed in October 2003.The
contribution from the Vietnam government is € 2.2 M,
of which 1.8 M is for capital investment and 0.4 M for
resources enhancement in terms of staff and offices
used by the concerned levels of administration.
France’s contribution is € 1.5 M, and this amount is
being used to fund technical assistance in the legal
field,computer engineering and training.
This project aims to make clear the prerogatives of
notaries in Vietnam and give them an essential role in
ensuring transaction security in the context of a
buoyant economy and equip them with the tools they
need to carry out these functions efficiently, reliably
and expeditiously.The following was achieved:
-
-
A notary law on the organization of the profession and status of notaries was enacted on
November 22, 2006, with provision for the gradual liberalization of the notarial profession.
The MASTER software was installed and is operational in the 110 public offices; a further 25 offices
will be equipped with it in 2007.
-
-
Offices within a pilot area yet to be determined
(Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City) will be put into a
secure network by late 2007 or early 2008,
enabling inter-office communication and communication with central record sites set up by the
Vietnamese Ministry of Justice.
Two web sites will be set up, one to facilitate
dealings among the notaries themselves,
financial institutions and the various levels of
government, and the other to inform the public
and assist them to handle certain notarial
procedures on line.
For more information:
Nguyen Huy Khanh, Program Officer, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Budgetary Reform
In the context of the major economic and financial
changes taking place in Vietnam, budget reform is a
pervasive concern.
A first law on the State budget was enacted in 1996
by the National Assembly.Five years later,deficiencies
had become apparent in the law, mainly in the areas
of transparency and accountability. A new Budget
Law was enacted in 2002 and came into force on
January 1, 2004.
This law clarified the roles and responsibilities of the
various public stakeholders, giving greater responsibilities and self-determination to the ministries as
well as to local communities, while serving to
promote accounting transparency. The budget
procedure was streamlined, with a better balance of
responsibilities and time frames for the preparation
and enactment of the Budget Law. The Ministry of
Finance prepares the draft budget legislation and
submits it to the National Assembly for approval.The
National Assembly reviews and approves the draft
Budget Law, controls budget execution and adopts
the regulatory statutes.However,a recent rise in nonbudget expenses is threatening this newly acquired
transparency.
77
Decentralization in the Vietnamese sense of the term
is also proving to be more efficient thanks to capacity
building of the local authorities and giving them
greater responsibility, mainly in the area of tax
collection and investment.
Implementation of the government’s Budget Law
has strengthened the accounting role of the Treasury
at the central and local levels for controlling income
and expenses as well as accounts auditing.
Nevertheless,difficulties remain in financial auditing,
mainly at the local level and in the management of
capital expenditures. The new law on government
auditing enacted by the National Assembly in May
2005 made the Government Audit into a National
Government Auditing Agency as of January 1, 2006
and put it under the authority of the National
Assembly (which appoints the chairman thereof and
steers its work).
In the current context of Vietnam’s integration into
international trade, a reassignment of the government’s income and expenses is underway. In order to
guarantee budget stability, it will be necessary to
redesign a number of financial instruments - income
tax, inheritance, natural resources and VAT - partly
because of the probable drop in customs duties that
will be experienced with the country becoming a
WTO member. The challenge will be to ensure
sufficient State budget income for investment and
social welfare, while containing government debt.
At the same time, while the resource parameters
continue to be broadly applied,an analytical thinking
process regarding performance parameters should
be put in place in the years to come,as well as a multiyear time horizon for expenditure forecasting. From
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
this standpoint, the study of the departments of the
Ministry of Planning and Investment with those of
the Ministry of Finance for major projects is quite
positive. Support offered by the “Economic Governance” FSP project that got underway in January
2003 is part and parcel of initiatives to bolster budget
reform. France’s own experience is insightful in this
regard as its Organic Law Respecting the Budget Law
(LOLF) went into effect on January 1, 2006.
The project has a four-and-a-half-year time frame. Its
action framework is one of a kind due to the wide
variety of players that it involves and the things that
it is focusing on.
Training and interchange programs via seminars,
conferences, appraisal and study missions - in
Vietnam and abroad - are being arranged in close
liaison with the three key partners: the Academy of
Finance, the General Statistics Office and the
National Assembly’s Economic and Budget Commission. Other partner institutions are also actively
involved in what the project is doing (CISEP, ESEN,
various Ministry of Finance directorates, etc.).
Stakeholders on the French side include the Ministry
of Economy, Finance and Industry, the Senate, the
European Group for Research in Public Finance
(Groupement Européen de Recherches en Finances
Publiques – GERFIP) and the Paris-Dauphine
University.
For more information:
Adrien Laroze, Project Coordinator
Email: [email protected] or
www.adetef.org.vn
Microfinance Cooperation
France is working with the International Labor
Organization (ILO) to deploy a Priority Solidarity Fund
(FSP) bi/multilateral “Pilot Social Welfare Experiment”
with a price tag of US$ 573,520.The ILO is coordinating
this project in three countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia
and Vietnam) for the purpose of extending the scope
and efficiency of social welfare for all through the
dissemination of the basic principles of microinsurance and other financial products for risk
management. Priority is given to the special place
occupied by women,as gender parity is considered as
a factor in the elimination of inequalities and poverty
reduction.
As for Vietnam,the project officially got underway on
May 20, 2003 in partnership with the Ministry of
Labor,Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).The project
is entitled “Extension of Microfinance and Microinsurance to Women in the Informal Sector.” Its
purpose is the development of three financial risk
management products in tandem with three
Vietnamese microfinance organizations. It is slated
to conclude in 2007.
insurance services to low-income households
conducted in cooperation with the Ford
Foundation (2006-2007). This research updates
one of two studies carried out in 2003 on the
savings, credit and insurance supply and demand
and identifies innovative mechanisms and
partnerships to extend access of poor households
to savings and insurance services.
> Technical support for three Vietnamese
microfinance organizations to develop and pilot
test three financial products for risk management:
- A credit insurance product with the Ninh Phuoc
village bank (Ninh Thuan province) in partnership with the State-owned insurance
company Bao Viet.
- A flexible voluntary savings product in
partnership with the Women’s League
microfinance organization TYM (Tao Yeu May)
in Soc Son and Me Linh districts (Vinh Phuc
province) just outside of Hanoi.
- A mutual assistance fund with the Dong Trieu
village bank (Quang Ninh province).
The key achievements of this project to date include:
78
> A research study on extension of savings and
> Twelve specialized training sessions for
microfinance institution staff (over 200 persons)
and microfinance organizations on the following
themes: development of new financial products,
principles of micro-insurance, financial analysis,
market study, management and communication/customer service.With regard to management training, the project arranged for a trainer
training course and four Vietnamese trainers are
now providing yearly training programs.
> Active involvement in a microfinance task force
that includes various actors in the field and aims
to promote good microfinance practices in
Vietnam. This task force is now working to
become institutionalized and is currently having
regular talks with the State Bank of Vietnam,
MOLISA and various funding agencies on
technical matters relating to microfinance.
> A working paper entitled “Towards a Viable
Microfinance Sector in Vietnam: Issues and
Challenges,” considered to be a benchmark
document for the government, funding agencies
and microfinance stakeholders (2005).
> A televised news story on microfinance, a
knowledge-sharing workshop, visit of a Vietnamese delegation to the international conference in Paris “Expanding Access to Microfinance:
Challenges and Actors,” on June 20 and 21, 2005
and a study tour to the Philippines (2004).
For more information:
www.microfinance.org.vn
Coaching the Economic Transition
The transition from a planned economy to a
“socialist-oriented market economy”is one of the key
development issues for Vietnam and is therefore
commanding the attention of its leaders.
The transition movement stems from the Doi Moi
(Renewal) policy started in 1986 and took concrete
shape in the form of an initial wave of reforms
leading to a more liberal economic policy, such as
opening up to foreign direct investments and
gradually liberalizing foreign trade.
On the international scene, Vietnam became a
member of ASEAN in 1995 and APEC in 1998.It signed
trade agreements with the European Union (1995)
and the United States (2001). In December 2006,
Vietnam filed its ratification instrument to become
the 150th member of the World Trade Organization
(in January 2007), a new step in the international
economic integration process which can now be
considered irreversible.
Coaching Vietnam’s transition in this field is one of
the priorities of French cooperation, the output being
development of a body of cooperation initiatives in
both the economic and legal fields.
79
This issue puts us directly at the heart of changes and
reform programs taking place in Vietnam. The
government-owned sector still accounts for basically
half of the economy (51 percent of investments come
from the State sector).The challenge is to move from
a regulating process to harness activities to a
regulating process designed to optimize the market
economy.
An FSP project“Support for Vietnam’s Integration into
International Trade”was signed in late October 2002
on the occasion of the President of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam’s state visit to France.This project
has a time frame of five years and a price tag of € 1.64
million to round out and extend the ongoing
legislative work for Vietnam’s international economic
integration (law on competition, trade, investment,
etc.), and support the putting in place of adequate
institutional arms.
Upstream assistance is being given in terms of
studies and research in order to assist senior
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
management in the various levels of government in
Vietnam to grasp as clearly as possible the different
aspects of the economic transition and market
mechanisms.
Several awareness-raising initiatives for government
and private decision-makers regarding the issues and
challenges of Vietnam’s economic integration are
also being carried out.All of these activities are under
the aegis of ADETEF Vietnam (Assistance pour le
développement des échanges en technologies
économique et financière / Assistance for the
Development of Economic and Financial Technology
Exchanges) with the cooperation of the National
Committee for International Economic Cooperation
(NCIEC).
Various partner institutions are also actively involved
in the technical implementation of this program
(General Directorate of Competition under the
Ministry of Trade, State Bank of Vietnam, Legal
Directorate of the Ministry of Trade, etc.).
For more information:
Fabienne Runyo, Project Coordinator
Email: [email protected]
www.adetef.org.vn
Fund for Expertise and Capacity Building
(Fonds d’Expertise et de Renforcement
des Capacités no. 1 – FERC1)
In December 2006, the AFD granted € 1.5 million to
the government of Vietnam to lay the groundwork
for the Fund for Expertise and Capacity Building
(Fonds d'Expertise et de Renforcement des Capacités
n°1 – FERC 1). This was an extension of the Fund for
Studies and Project Preparation (Fonds d’Études et de
Préparation de Projets – FEPP).
The use made of FEPP 3 showed the value of the
instrument,as funds it provided were used at the rate
of 36 percent for rural development,15 percent for the
financial sector and 49 percent for infrastructure.The
continuum of operations in the Partnership Framework Document and 2006-2010 Action Plan justify
the extension of this grant assistance and it is
furthermore required by the study programming
agreed with the MPI and line ministries.
80
The FERC is used to fund:
(i) Project studies or appraisals for project or
program identification, preparation or feasibility
upstream from further assistance from the AFD.
(ii) Technical assistance in charge of identification or
preparation for AFD funding.
(iii) Studies and isolated resident technical assistance
not directly linked to funding assistance from the
AFD.
For more information:
Email: [email protected]
www.afd.fr
Decentralized and Non-governmental
Cooperation
France-Vietnam Decentralized
and Non-governmental Cooperation
French-Vietnamese non-governmental or proximity
cooperation is a realm in which various territorial
communities, public and private institutions and
NGOs have been working since the early 1990s. It is
an important aspect of the relationship between
France and Vietnam.
Vietnam is the second largest recipient of ODA from
French territorial collectivities. In 2004, the outlay
was € 3.69 M out of a total of € 51.05 M for the world.
In 2005, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE)
co-funded operations in Vietnam’s non-governmental sector to the tune of € 988,398: € 221,521 to
help 10 projects conducted by 6 communities and
€ 766,877 for 18 projects being implemented by over
17 NGOs.
In the past 15 years, this cooperation has grown and
taken on many forms. The Embassy of France has a
record of 777 completed or ongoing projects involving
464 French partners and 208 Vietnamese partners
being conducted in 62 of the 64 current provinces of
Vietnam. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City alone take
41 percent of the projects, while the three central
provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and
Danang receive 17 percent. Only two provinces, Bac
Giang and Dak Nong, have never been on the list of
France-Vietnam cooperation projects.
1. Cooperation in the field of health is the focus of 23
percent of the proximity cooperation projects and
involves many decentralized cooperation actors
(universities, hospitals, research institutes and the
like.) It is the broadest field of activity: rehabilitation
of care facilities, primary health care, neonatology,
nutrition,clinical psychology,gynecology,odontology,
pneumology.
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There is a wholesome mix of governmental and nongovernmental health stakeholders, making this field
both well-endowed with resources and dense as far
as cooperation is concerned. Approximately 130
cooperation projects have been catalogued: 25
agreements with hospitals and twenty or so with
universities are carrying the brunt of the
governmental cooperation arrangements, in particular in the sectors of training and hospital
cooperation, along with decentralized cooperation
arrangements and nearly a hundred different
associations.
2. As far as higher education is concerned, nongovernmental cooperation essentially involves interuniversity agreements of which there are two
categories: core agreements that feature provision
for teacher and student exchanges and agreements
that highlight training in the form of either delocalization of diplomas or paired curriculums in Vietnam
and France. The regions, especially the regional
councils of Poitou-Charentes and Rhône-Alpes, are
particularly active in this area.
3. Francophony is very present in all decentralized
cooperation initiatives. As such, it occupies about
7 percent of the total number of projects.
A common form of partnership in this area is the
twinning of French or francophone institutions with
Vietnamese institutions, more particularly with
those that have a program of bilingual classes. Based
on figures supplied by the Francophony University
Agency (AUF), nine such partnerships exist. A new
one is being put together and six others are being
considered. There are five affiliations with Hanoi,
eight with Ho Chi Minh City,one with Nha Trang,one
with Da Lat and one with Ha Tay.
Various communities are intervening in standalone
projects to support study in France or in the French
language for certificate or degree purposes:
- The General Council of Indre-et-Loire has
authorized the Institute of Touraine to form a
F r a n c e ’s C r o s s - c u t t i n g
P r i o r i t i e s i n Vi e t n a m
-
-
working relationship with the Hanoi University of
Foreign Languages.
The municipality of Montreuil set up a structure
to teach French in high schools in Hai Duong and
set up a center for French language instruction in
that province.
In 2003, the General Council of Côtes d’Armor in
cooperation with the Côtes d’Armor-Vietnam
Association established a Center for Francophony
in the city of Vinh, Nghe An province, which is
providing training and capacity building in the
French language for teachers and professionals
through intensive language courses.
4. In the field of research, territorial communities are
fequently involved in research projects with the upfront partner being a laboratory or an institute.Based
on the information available, the Aquitaine, RhôneAlpes, Nord-Pas de Calais regions and the territorial
community of Corsica are supporting research
projects, notably in the field of agriculture and
disaster prevention as well as in marine resources.
5. The Embassy is developing co-funded scholarship
programs in partnership with the French regions.
These programs have been developing with the Îlede-France, Poitou-Charentes and Rhône-Alpes
regions for several years now.The Nord-Pas de Calais
region became involved in 2004.In 2006,46 students
received regional academic scholarships for an
amount totaling € 200,000 funded by the regions,
with an additional € 30,000 being kicked in by the
Embassy in the form of social security cover.
6. Five percent of projects are in the field of cultural
exchanges, and the key stakeholders identified are:
-
-
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The Poitou-Charentes region, which has provided
essential financial support for the implementation of two cultural cooperation programs since
2000. For music, there is a cooperation arrangement with the Hanoi National Conservatory of
Music, in contemporary dance with the Vietnam
Opera Ballet, the Vietnam Advanced School of
Dance and Ballet atlantique/Régine Chopinot.
The Poitou-Charentes region has also been very
active in putting on the different installments of
the Festival of Hue, the last one taking place in
June 2006.
The Nord-Pas de Calais region, which has been
sharing in the Festival of Hue since 2000.In liaison
with l'Espace - Hanoi CCF, four festival directors
-
are receiving training in cultural engineering in
2007, while one technician will be taking a sixmonth internship at Avignon this year.
The city of Toulouse is developing cultural
animation in the city to complement the
rehabilitation operations it is doing in the old
town (Culture Week on Vietnam in Toulouse,
planned for May 2007).
Non-governmental cooperation in the field of
agriculture and rural development accounts for 12
percent of France-Vietnam proximity projects. (See
the chapter “Agriculture and Rural Development
Projects under Decentralized Cooperation.”)
The most active territorial communities are the
regions of Midi-Pyrénées (Son La), Nord-Pas de Calais
(Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam),Poitou-Charentes
(Hanoi) and Rhônes-Alpes (Dong Nai and Can Tho);
Corsica (Hai Phong), L’Indre et Loire (Hanoi), Les Côtes
d’Armor (Nghe An) and Le Val de Marne (Yen Bai).
Several research and development institutes (CIRAD,
IRD, GRET, INRA, IFREMER) are also working in this
sector. This is topped off by university cooperation
arrangements.
8. Virtually all decentralized cooperation projects
have a “governance” component in order to provide
training for People’s Committee officials and partners
so that they can ensure project follow-through and
sustainability.
The city of Rennes and the Nord-Pas de Calais region
are working in the province of Thua Thien-Hue to
develop governance support programs via the
training of municipal technical officers, such as the
effort undertaken by the city of Montreuil in Hai
Duong province. The regions of Île-de-France (in
Hanoi) and Rhône-Alpes (in HCMC) are making a
contribution to government-level decision-making in
the field of urban planning with the establishment of
the Institute of Urban Trades (Institut des métiers de la
ville – IMV) and the Urban Planning and Engineering
Center (Centre de prospectives et d’études urbaines –
PADDI).
For more information:
Agnès Schilling, Program Officer, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Project Database for France-Vietnam Decentralized
and Non-governmental Cooperation
One of the features of French cooperation in Vietnam
is the large number of field operations being
conducted by various types of stakeholders:
international solidarity organizations, territorial
communities, institutions of learning, health structures, research institutes, etc.This proliferation is very
enriching. The friendship and expertise networks
that have been built up in this way have brought
France and Vietnam closer together and are
enhancing the quality of all that is being done in the
area of cooperation.
When the Forum was held in Toulouse in 2003, the
information collected in 1999 was updated and
expanded. A definite structure was set up to produce
a substantive, functional and permanent database.
When the 6th Forum took place in Hue in June 2005,
the project database was updated again. A new
research criterion has been introduced to enable
ongoing projects to be distinguished from projects
that have been completed. The inclusion of data
about the Vietnamese partners has been partially
completed.
Nevertheless, this cross-fertilization of initiatives is
also tending to make things more complex. For this
reason, an inventory of projects and partners proved
to be necessary so as to yield a comprehensive
panorama of proximity cooperation and its main
trends with regard to themes and geographical areas
so as to provide operators with the information
needed to avoid duplication of efforts and promote
inter-project synergies, not to mention program
coordination.
The Embassy of France is now attempting to keep the
database up-to-date by regularly inputting details. It
can do this on the basis of information conveyed to it
by the various project officers.
The database can be consulted on the Embassy of
France’s web site: http://www.ambafrance-vn.org,
heading “Relations franco-vietnamiennes,” then
“Coopération,” and finally “Coopération de
proximité.”
An initial inventory was made in 1999 at the
conclusion of the 3rd France-Vietnam Cooperation
Forum in Poitiers (1998), but it only involved
decentralized cooperation and various relationships
that had been entered into between local authorities.
The results were put out on a reference CD ROM.
For more information:
Le Phuong Thao, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, SCAC
Email: [email protected]
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Guidebooks to French Cooperation in Vietnam
Previously
published:
- no. 1 :
- no. 2 :
- no. 3 :
- no. 4 :
- no. 5 :
- no. 6 :
- no. 7 :
- no. 8 :
- no. 9 :
- no. 10 :
- no. 1 :
- no. 2 :
- no. 3 :
- no. 4 :
- no. 5 :
- no. 6 :
- no. 10 :
- no. 1 :
- no. 2 :
- no. 3 :
- Special issue:
- Special issue:
- no. 1 :
- no. 2 :
- Special issue:
- Special issue:
- Special issue:
- Special issue:
- Special issue:
- no. 1 :
- no. 2 :
- Special issue:
- Special issue:
84
2002 edition
French Cooperation in Vietnam
Training and Higher Education in Vietnam
Annual report on the activities of the CCC, 2001
French cooperation in training in Vietnam
New challenges to suburban development in Hanoi
The Chinese-Vietnamese urban model:Analysis of the status and role of Hanoi
in the classical period
What innovation policy for Vietnam?
French health cooperation in Vietnam
French urban development activities in Vietnam
Directory of 2002-2003 scholarship holders and trainees from Ho Chi Minh City
and the provinces of the South
2003 edition
French Human Resources Training Activities
Annual report on the activities of the SCAC, 2002
France and the French language in Vietnam
France-Vietnam Cooperation: Facts and Figures
French territorial communities in Vietnam
Agriculture and rural development in Vietnam
Low-cost housing in Ho Chi Minh City
Seminar proceedings:
PAOPA seminar:“Innovative Approaches for Development in Vietnam”
(with CD-ROM)
2004 edition
FASEVIE - An original answer to the infant malnutrition problem in Vietnam
Economic growth and poverty reduction in Vietnam: the jammed machine?
French scientific research activities in Vietnam
Annual report on the activities of the SCAC, 2003
France Water Vietnam, 20 cooperation projects in the water sector
2005 edition
Tourism in Vietnam
France-Vietnam Cooperation: Facts and Figures
Annual report on the activities of the SCAC, 2004
Sixth Conference on France-Vietnam Cooperation (Volume I)
Sixth Conference on France-Vietnam Cooperation (Volume II)
Food sector on Vietnam, industries and training, synthesis and prospects
of a partnership to be reinforced
French-Vietnamese co-operation in the museum sector, Facts and prospects
2006 edition
Social Fund for Development
France-Vietnam Cooperation: Facts and Figures
Partnership Framework Document Between France and Vietnam, 2006-2010
Easterly Wind Program 1997-2007: Prospects and Operations
in Southern Vietnam
French Embassy in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
57 Tran Hung Dao - Hanoi - Tel.: 944 57 00 - www.ambafrance-vn.org