Secretary-General Dr. Indra (L) with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R)

Refined strategies are needed to address sluggish productivity performance and help reorient the focus and direction of national productivity movements. Since 2019, the APO has focused on strengthening Vietnam’s institutional capacity through the development of a productivity policy master plan and strategies, which was completed in 2021. A follow-up initiative was recently completed. The handing over of the report on the institutional capacity development plan for Vietnam’s NPO by APO Secretary-General Dr. Indra Pradana Singawinata to Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Xuan Dinh held on 26 April 2023 in Hanoi marked the completion of the project.

Secretary-General Dr. Indra (R) with Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Xuan Dinh (L)

These endeavors show the APO’s commitment to providing continuous support to member governments in addressing institutional challenges to their productivity movements. Efforts to overcome the institutional challenges hampering productivity movement in Vietnam are paramount to address three most pressing issues: sluggish labor productivity growth; looming risks from the demographic transition; and achieving goal of a high-income economy. This is aligned with the Government of Vietnam’s priority focus on increasing labor productivity through human capital development, infrastructure upgrading, and improvement of governance and institutional quality.

This capacity development plan complements the productivity master plan by providing solutions to those challenges, particularly by strengthening the role of the NPO as a key organization in boosting productivity performance. The report emphasizes the importance of institutional arrangements for the national productivity movement, including assigning clear mandates to ministries and agencies in charge of leading it. The report also provides recommendations on governance, structure, repositioning, and new focus areas including ideal budgeting and staffing of the NPO tailored to the needs and context of Vietnam.

To underscore the importance of the capacity development plan, Secretary-General Dr. Indra made a series of courtesy calls on government officials to discuss the directions of productivity improvement strategies and exchange recommendations on how to strengthen institutional arrangements for Vietnam’s productivity movement. Those officials included Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Vice Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council Nguyen Van Thanh, and other council members. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed appreciation to the APO for its continuous support extended to Vietnam and hoped for greater collaboration and engagement through APO projects and programs. The report was disseminated among various stakeholders in Vietnam as part of the activities marking the completion of the project.