8 year old child urinating on floor

Hanoi envisions to become a highly competitive city nationwide and of the region in a five-year time by restructuring the growth model based on technological advancement and innovation.

Hanoi expects its gross regional domestic product (GRDP) growth to average 7.5-8% in the 2021-2025 period, as the capital city pursue rapid and sustainable economic growth to eventually become a green and smart city.

Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh at the meeting. Photo: Gia Huy

In Hanoi’s GRDP structure during the period, the services sector would be at the center of growth making up 65-65.5% of the local economy, followed by industry and construction with 22.5-23%, and agro-forestry-fishery with 1.4-1.6%.

The objective was set in the draft socio-economic development plan for Hanoi that was subject for discussion at a conference on April 20.

“The plan would help put the resolution of Hanoi’s 17th Party Congress into practice,” said Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Chu Ngoc Anh, saying the discussion offers an opportunity for local authorities to contribute to the city’s five-year development plan.

Under the draft plan, Hanoi envisions to become a highly competitive city nationwide and of the region in a five-year time by restructuring the growth model based on technological advancement and innovation. Hanoi continues giving priority to the application of modern and environmentally-friendly technologies, along with robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), big data, 5G, fintech, and blockchain.

The city is expected to complete the industrialization process in the next five years and attain a GRDP per capita of around US$8,300-8,500.

Meanwhile, digital economy is set to make up 30% of the GRDP, while productivity growth should be around 7-7.5%.

The draft plan estimates state budget collection in Hanoi during the 2021-2025 period at VND1,405 trillion (US$60.71 billion), and expenditure of VND613.7 trillion (US$26.52 billion).

“The city would gradually tighten spending for greater efficiency, including a shift towards capital expenditure and keeping regular spending at 50% of total expenditure by 2025,” noted the plan.

For the past five-year period, despite making up only 1% of the country’s land and 8.5% of the population, Hanoi contributes 18.5% to the country’s budget revenue, 16% of GDP, and 8.6% trade turnover annually.

However, the severe Covid-19 impacts in 2020 led the city’s unsuccessful accomplishment of a number of key economic targets for the 2016-2020 period, including GRDP growth of 6.68% (target from 7.3-7.8%); GRDP per capita of VND122.74 million (US$5,300) (target from VND126-129 million or US$5,400-5,500).

At the reception, the Japanese ambassador thanked Rear Admiral Nghiem for warmly welcoming the Japanese delegation, highlighting that Japan always considers Vietnam an important strategic partner, especially in recent years when the relationship between the two countries has been expanded in many fields.

He also affirmed that the two countries have enjoyed fruitful results of naval cooperation over the past time. The Vietnam People’s Navy created favorable conditions for port calls to Vietnam by Japanese naval ships. He hoped that the bilateral ties would be further expanded in the coming time.

For his part, Rear Admiral Nghiem recalled milestones in the friendship and cooperation between the two governments, militaries, and navies over the past time, which has contributed to building the Vietnam-Japan extensive strategic partnership.

Regarding naval cooperation, the two navies have exchanged delegations, sent ships to visit each other, and held training exercises at sea.

Rear Admiral Nghiem expressed his hope that in his new working position, Ambassador Yamada Takio would continue to make positive contributions to bringing the relationship between the two countries in general and the militaries and navies in particular to a new height.

Translated by Minh Anh

Tens of thousands of smiles of many people of all different backgrounds nationwide are presented in pictures which were taken by photographer Tran The Phong over the past 10 years.

The Sai Gon Giai Phong Newspaper introduces some photographs of artist Tran The Phong. He will release his 10th photo book and the 16th solo photo exhibition at HCMC Book Street on March 27.

PAPI displays fruits of anti-corruption drive. Photo: VGP

At last week’s release of the 2020 Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI), Dr. Paul Schuler of the PAPI Research Team said that the 2016-2021 government term saw more improvements in provincial governance and public administration with the strongest improvement in the control of corruption seen in the public sector.

While each of the past five years saw corruption in the public sector better controlled, the past year saw the strongest improvement.

“The result is attributed to the country’s intensified crackdown on corruption since 2016. From the citizen perspective, the anti-corruption campaign driven by the Party seems to have permeated local-level officials,” he added.

Nationwide, the proportion of respondents claiming that bribes are necessary for state employment, public healthcare services, land use rights certificates, fair treatment by primary school teachers, and the granting of construction permits has been declining since 2016.

Regarding the importance of personal connections to gain government positions, the 2020 PAPI report shows a continued decline in this indicator, although it remains high. However, across a range of positions, the number of citizens suggesting that connections were important in hiring is at its lowest since the survey began in 2011.

As many as 18 provinces made significant progress in 2020 in controlling corruption in the public sector. As in previous years, Ben Tre performed well in this vertical, while six provinces experienced significant setbacks, with Ninh Thuan and Ninh Binh seeing the largest declines.

Nine out of the top 10 performers in controlling corruption were central and southern provinces. The top five performers in this indicator were Quang Ninh, Dong Thap, Ben Tre, Quang Tri, and Quang Nam. On the other hand, corruption was reported to be the most rampant in Lam Dong, Haiphong, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, and Kon Tum.

Since 2016, personal relations have become less important in all provinces, implying that local governments have been paying more attention to the fair recruitment of state employees. However, personal relations remain important at the commune level, even among the top performers.

However, citizen feedback on bribery based on respondents’ actual experience of accessing specific public services paints a far less rosy picture. In 2020, more than 32 per cent of respondents said they paid a bribe to obtain a land use right certificate, compared to just over 22 per cent in 2019.

According to Paul Schuler, this divergence between perceptions of and the actual experience with bribes could be due to positive impressions among those who did not pay bribes, which can be ascribed as a result of anti-corruption campaigns. Alternatively, it is possible that the size of bribes has decreased, thereby improving perceptions.

Over the past years, corruption has been an issue of special concern in the business community and the public, and is often on the agenda of business conferences. Experts showed that successful anti-corruption will contribute to improving business confidence in Vietnam’s long-term sustainable development.

Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Robyn Mudie noted, “Findings from the 2020 PAPI report show that there is a correlation between good governance and effective pandemic responses. In other words, good governance matters. Looking ahead, improving governance will prove extremely useful in managing other unexpected emergency situations in Vietnam.”

Of the eight dimensions measured by the index, vertical accountability has also steadily improved during the 2016-2020 term. However, there have been declines in participation at local levels, as well as in public administrative procedures.

While general confidence levels rose, the greatest concerns of locals remained poverty and hunger, economic growth and employment, and health and health insurance.

As in each of the last five years, poverty and hunger remain the issues of greatest concern in 2020, with about 18 per cent of respondents indicating concerns. However, there has been a substantial decline in the percentage of respondents for whom this was a top concern, and this is the lowest number of respondents since 2015 to highlight these areas as their primary concerns.

On the other hand, short-term economic worries emerged, with economic growth and employment two of the top four concerns in 2020. Concerns around health and health insurance also soared, from around 2 per cent in 2019 to 17 per cent in 2020.

In PAPI 2020, 16 cities and provinces were named in the group of the “best”; 16 others were “above average”; 15 were “below average”; and 16 were dubbed the “worst”. The northern province of Quang Ninh gained the highest overall PAPI score while Danang continued to drop. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City both ranked at the bottom.

Caitlin Wiesen – Resident representative in Vietnam, UN Development Programme Since its inception, PAPI has continued to grow and adapt new development priorities. It is now the largest citizen-centric and nationwide policy monitoring tool in Vietnam. The overall aim of PAPI is to improve the quality of government functions, the responsiveness, transparency, and accountability of public institutions, as well as ensure access to information and quality services. These are aims that also mirror the mission of the UNDP. 2020 has been a turbulent year for the world and for Vietnam. However, after two waves of COVID-19, coupled with unprecedented natural disasters with historic floods in the central region last October, I am delighted to see that PAPI findings are increasingly being used and mentioned in government documents ranging from, the Politburo, ministries, agencies, the National Assembly, and socio-political organisations. Matti Tervo – Development and Economic counsellor, Embassy of Finland PAPI gives a good oversight of the governance within cities and provinces across Vietnam. It also shows Vietnam’s progress over the years. The index shows great efforts to improve, especially the investment environment. Some cities and provinces are more concentrated on this, with some becoming one-stop shops for foreign direct investment (FDI). We can use this data as a baseline for any investment by the Finnish government. We do not actually have that much FDI, we prefer making direct capital investments into Vietnamese companies. We hope that the market would open up a little more. We still offer public investment loans to the Vietnamese government and hope the business environment will remain open and in line with international laws, especially now we have a free trade agreement.

Baden-Wuerttemberg’s interior minister and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Thomas Strobel (L) talks with climate activists ahead of the start of the coalition talks with the green party in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on April 8, 2021 after regional elections in Baden-Wuerttemberg.(THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP)

In 2019, millions of people, led by student and youth organisations, flooded the world’s streets to demand that governments act to stave off the worst effects of global warming.

But then came Covid-19, bringing the global movement to a screeching halt, with lockdowns and travel restrictions forcing mass events to be cancelled and activism to shift online.

“The pandemic hit right at the moment when we were peaking in terms of mobilisation,” said Nicolas Haeringer, from the environmental group 350.org.

Youth activists quickly adapted to online activism, and the pandemic may even have helped groups based in richer countries to devise better ways to include activists from developing nations.

The School Strike for Climate movement “was deeply rooted in European youth,” said Haeringer.

“The pandemic has been used to rebalance things and build real leadership in global south nations.”

While the internet is ideal for laying plans, it is clear that the impetus has waned from movements unable to protest in real life.

“It has been hard for movements,” said Clare Farrell, a co-founder of the civil disobedience Extinction Rebellion movement.

“We build relationships through face-to-face work often so we are really looking forward to getting back out to do actions in public space, to meet new people and build the movements again.”

– Shifting tactics –

Dana Fisher, professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, said that climate activists have spent the last year also campaigning for similar causes in solidarity with other movements.

This includes participating in activism against systemic racism and in helping people of colour gain better access to Covid-19 vaccines.

In the US, “the movement is definitely not stopping, but the tactic of the climate strike is not a dominant form of activism right now and it may never return,” said Fisher.

But many youth strikers are undeterred by the turbulent last 12 months.

“We’re keeping in touch, it’s great and I believe that there will be another youth mobilisation,” said Michel Villarreal, a Bolivian student activist.

There are a number of high-profile events in 2021 that activists could use as launch pads for wider activities.

The first is next week with US President Joe Biden’s virtual climate summit.

In September, the global congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature is set to take place in the French port city of Marseille, Covid permitting.

Then comes the COP15 on biodiversity in Kunming, China, in October, followed hot on its heels by the COP26 UN climate talks in the Scottish city of Glasgow.

Groups are already planning a global day of action to “reclaim the initiative”, probably at the start of Autumn, said Haeringer.

“It’s imperative that we get citizens energised this year to make sure that the powers that be see how widespread support for rapid action really is,” added Farrell.

But it remains to be seen how inclusive any climate activity can be.

The global vaccine rollout has been deeply uneven, with stockpiling in richer nations, while poorer countries struggle to get their hands on doses.

“Will the youth movement descend on the streets, express their will for things to change and demand more political courage to implement strong climate policies?” said Amy Dahan, a science historian specialising in climate change at France’s CNRS research network.

“It’s hard to say.”

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has led calls to ensure that the vaccine rollout is sufficiently equitable to ensure that COP26 has equal representation from all nations.

“It’s important to think hard about the experience of the pandemic and all that it’s shown us from the social inequalities it’s exposed,” said Farrell.