Vung Tau, 30^th November 2017 - The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the German Development Cooperation co-organised a Workshop on “Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and Role of the National Assembly”. The Workshop was held within the framework of the Macroeconomic Reforms/Green Growth Programme, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The National Action Plan to implement the 2030 Agenda for SDGs was promulgated as per Decision 622/QD-TTg dated 10 May 2017 of the Prime Minister, in which 17 SDGs of Vietnam towards 2030 have been set including 115 specific targets, in line with global SDGs targets approved by the United Nations in September 2015. As Vietnam is in the process of nationalizing the SDGs and adapting them to its development context, institutional reforms, policy changes and new monitoring and evaluation mechanisms will all be needed. The National Assembly can play a vital role in overseeing and driving the SDG agenda, as envisaged in the Hanoi Declaration adopted by the 132nd session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. This workshop is one in a series of awareness raising workshops targeting members of National Assembly and deputies of People’s Councils from three regions in Vietnam (the North, the Centre, and the South).

The workshop provided thes participants with an opportunity to become acquainted with the contents of Agenda 2030, the National Action Plan, the development of indicators system for Sustainable Development Goals in Vietnam as well as to learn from the German experience of Agenda 2030 implementation. In the workshop, participants also discuss difficulties and challenges in implementing the National Action Plan at the local level from their perspectives as members of National Assembly and deputies of People’s Councils. In addition, the workshop also provides the opportunity for participants to learn about the Handbook on Parliament's Role in Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and how to use the Parliaments and SDGs self-assessment toolkit which was developed by Inter-Parliamentary Union and UNDP in order to assist parliaments and their members to assess their preparedness to engage with the SDGs and to identify additional strategies, mechanisms and partnerships to support implementation of the SDGs more effectively.

In the opening speech, Ms. Nguyen Le Thuy, Vice Head of Vietnam Agenda 21 Office, Deputy Director General, Department of Science, Education, Natural Resources and Environment, MPI emphasises that “the key message and purpose of the SDGs, ‘leave no one behind’ is at the core of Viet Nam’s response, and this cannot be achieved without a ‘whole of nation’ approach in implementation and reporting“ and “it is essential to have the active involvement of all related ministries, localities, enterprises and people as well as development partners“.

Dr. Michael Krakowski, Director of the Macroeconomic Reforms/Green Growth Programme shares that “many actions in the field of sustainability are already being undertaken by the Government of Vietnam, that have been conceptualized even before the adoption of the Agenda 2030 and which perfectly fit with the provisions of the 2030 Agenda.“