Country Office Viet Nam
General information
UNIDO has been present in Viet Nam since 1978 and provided technical assistance to the Government of Viet Nam in accordance with high international standards.
As in other countries, the overall mission of the UNIDO Country Office in Viet Nam is to strengthen Viet Nam’s sustainable industrial development and competitiveness in order to become a modern industrialized country by 2020. To reach this objective UNIDO’s Country Office in Viet Nam is generating new ideas with the Government and business sector, as well as liaising with the donor community, and can count on the support of some three hundreds technical specialists based at UNIDO’s Headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
Annual technical assistance delivery of the Office in Hanoi has been one of the highest among the thirty UNIDO offices worldwide. Since its establishment, UNIDO has implemented more than 150 projects in the whole of Viet Nam’s territory with accumulated budgets of approximately 88 million USD, at a grant basis (Evaluation report 2012).
Over the years, the specific focus of UNIDO in Viet Nam has changed accordingly to meet the development needs of the country.
Contact us
UNIDO Representative: Mr. Patrick Jean GILABERT
Address:
72, Ly Thuong Kiet Street
Hanoi
VIET NAM
Telephone: +84 4 38224490
FAX: +84 4 39422484
Email
Country Context
The country has enjoyed impressive growth rates over the last 20 years, averaging 7-8% per annum with a slight decline to 6% per annum during 2009-2010. To a large extent, the growth has been driven by a shift from a centrally-planned to a market-led economy since the initiation of the ‘Doi Moi’ reform process in 1986. In this process, the structure of the economy has shifted away from agriculture, which declined to about 20% of GDP, towards manufacturing and services. The country aims to become a modern and industrialized country by 2020. While the agricultural sector remains the largest employer, Viet Nam’s continued industrialization implies an increasing demand of specialized skills and a growing pressure to create sustainable, productive and decent employment for all, especially for youth.
Viet Nam’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) increased its exposure to competition on international markets and prompted a focus on further eliminating the structural weaknesses of state enterprises and the banking sector. Manufacturing remains rooted in labour-intensive, low-tech sectors accounting for 65% of manufactured exports. As a result, challenges include enhancing productivity, developing basic infrastructure as well as securing the delivery of more efficient public services and a continued macroeconomic stability. Compliance with WTO SPS/TBT commitments and standards is another challenge affecting the ability to export agricultural and industrial products. The rapid industrialization in Viet Nam has further contributed to the serious degradation of the environment, which in turn aggravates the negative effects of climate change.
The incidence of monetary poverty declined significantly from 37.4% in 1998 to 9.6% in 2012. Despite the country’s improved access to basic services, the multi-dimensional poverty index shows a much higher rate of non-monetary poverty, with significant differences between poorer and richer provinces. In 2010, Viet Nam, with an annual per capita GDP of USD 1200, joined the league of middle-income countries.
Current projects
Expansion of the national business registration system (NBRS) to new business entities: Viet Nam
The project follows up on a previous UNIDO project funded by NORAD, SECO, OPF and UNIDO, which established a National Business Registration System (NBRS). The new phase seeks to expand and consolidate previous results and, by 2017, enable the ABR and BROs to provide accurate, legally binding information on commercial entities to the business community, government agencies and the general public, independently from similar further international donor support. UNIDO will primarily assist the ABR and BROs in expanding the coverage of the existing NBRS to other types of businesses, for which it will provide them with legal advice, institution building, technical upgrading of the NBRS, and capacity building of staff.
Platform for investment monitoring and supplier development in Viet Nam
The project aims to strengthen the national institutions’ and private sector decision makers’ capacity to monitor and manage investment flows. It will accomplish this by establishing a web-based investment monitoring platform that can be used to analyze and manage foreign direct investment. By establishing a supplier benchmarking and subcontracting exchange (SPX) unit, the project will further equip the manufacturing sector to present itself as a viable and competitive supplier base for global enterprises.
Promoting energy efficiency in industries through system optimization and energy management standards
The project promotes industrial energy efficiency through applying a system optimization approach and energy management standards in line with ISO 50,001.
Supporting Viet Nam’s pharmaceutical production
The project supports the Government of Viet Nam in its efforts to increase the availability of locally produced, essential quality medicines for the population at large and strengthen Viet Nam’s pharmaceutical industry.
Strengthen the supply capacity of the fruits and vegetable sector by introducing proper technologies along the value chain
The project supports the Government to implement its National Target Program on New Rural Development. UNIDO’s help consists in providing small-holders with the necessary technologies and conservation and value-addition skills that can increase their income.
Helping Vietnamese SMEs adapt and adopt corporate social responsibility (CSR) for improved linkages with global supply chains in sustainable production
The overall objective of the project is to improve the environmental and social performance of Vietnamese SMEs in global supply chains through the increased awareness, understanding and adoption of Triple Bottom line corporate social responsibility.
Benchmarking Viet Nam’s training system for manufacturing skills
The project contributes to the development of an internationally competitive industrial training system that corresponds to the urgent need of Viet Nam’s industry to climb up the technology ladder and create more jobs in high-added value manufacturing.
Overcoming policy, market and technological barriers to support technological innovation and south-south technology transfer: the pilot case of ethanol production from cassava
The project aims to remove barriers and create a conducive environment for the promotion of ethanol production technologies and South-South technology transfer.
Reducing greenhouse gas and ODS Emissions through technology transfer in industrial refrigeration
The objective of the project is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by creating an enabling environment for the use of alternative, very low or zero GWP refrigerants in cold storage facilities in Viet Nam that currently use HCFC-22 for servicing and maintenance purposes.