Overview
IDRC has been involved in Viet Nam for only a decade. Since 1991, the Centre has supported some 46 projects. Viet Nam began to move from a planned to a market economy in the mid-1980s. As the transition got fully underway in the early 1990s, IDRC began funding research into economic issues and agriculture. For example, researchers looked at strategies that local communities can adopt to improve livelihoods and gain access to and control over the management of critical natural resources. Examining economic and agricultural issues compelled attention to the institutional context in which market mechanisms were beginning to emerge. A major early effort to build Viet Nam capacity in agriculture and economics was the Viet Nam Institutional Strengthening and Economic Development (VISED) project, jointly funded by CIDA and IDRC. A follow-on effort was mounted in 1997, the Viet Nam Economic and Environmental Management (VEEM) program, which focused on community based coastal zone management and research on needed economic reforms. A large number of Vietnamese environmental and economic research partners, representing virtually the entire spectrum of Vietnamese research institutions involved with IDRC over the years, were supported through VEEM. A further area of focus in the Centre's work has been support to help the Vietnamese research community access the Internet and forge links with regional researchers and external research networks outside Viet Nam. These research partners include the Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry; the Institute of Economics, Hanoi; the Centre for Natural Resources Management and Environmental Studies; the Institute of Tropical Biology; The Research Institutes for Aquaculture Nos. 1 and 3; Cantho University; the University of Fisheries; the Haiphong Institute of Oceanology; the Institute of Economics; the Institute of World Economy; the Institute for Market and Price Research; the Central Institute of Economics Management; and the Research Centre for Female Labour.
The Viet Nam Economic and
Environmental Management (VEEM) effort assists Viet Nam improve policies and
implement economic reform and coastal zone management. The economic components
help Viet Nam develop trade and industry policies, particularly in national and
global trade liberalization and competitiveness, using case studies and
enterprise surveys. An advisory network of economists from a number of
Vietnamese institutions feed research results to high level policy makers to
improve decision making. A series of community based coastal zone management
efforts introduce participatory development concepts, training, and practice to
key Vietnamese fisheries, oceanological and coastal science research
institutions, and universities. Through work with local coastal communities,
Vietnamese natural scientists are beginning to recognize the importance of
social, economic and institutional development and with local farmer-fishers to
develop approaches to redress Viet Nam's rapidly degrading coastal areas and
fisheries. (Project duration: 1997-2002; IDRC contact: Rodney Schmidt and
Stephen Tyler; Project # 3099.)
The VEEM program comprises 6 economic research
projects:
Trade Liberalization and Competitiveness, Implemented by the Institute of Economics
Total Factor Productivity (TFP) for Textiles and Garments Firms Productivity, Implemented by the Institute for Market and Price Research. Read the Abstract of the project paper or download Full-text report.
Impacts of Asian Financial Crisis, Implemented by the Institute of Economics. Read the Abstract of the project paper or download Full-text report.
FDI and Development of Manufacturing Industries in Vietnam, Implemented by the Institute of World Economy. Read the Abstract of the project paper or download Full-text report.
The Role of the Private Sector in Trade in Vietnam: The Case of Textile and Garment Industries, Implemented by the Central Institute for Economic Management. Read the Abstract of the project paper or download Full-text report.
Female Workers in Textiles and Garments Firms, Implemented by the Research Center for Female Labour. Read the Abstract of the project paper or download Full-text report.
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Last updated: 10 November, 2004