Hoa Binh, 25-27^th July 2018 – Based on the Decision No. 622 / QD-TTg approving the National Action Plan to implement Agenda 2030, theGeneral Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) and GIZ co- organized a technical workshop on Reviewing Vietnam’s Sustainable Development Statistical Indicators (VSDG). The aim was to revise the draft list of indicators compiled by the GSO to monitor the progress on the Vietnam SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong - Deputy Director General of GSO chaired the workshop prepared and facilitated by the Methodology and IT Department of the GSO together with a team of international experts from IP Consult/NIRAS on behalf of GIZ. The participants of the workshop included representatives from GSO, line ministries, VASS, individual national experts on statistics, UNFPA, UNICEF.

The three-day technical workshop included plenary sessions, panel discussions and working groups. Experts reviewed the definition and methodology of 291 statistical indicators divided in three groups: Economic, Social and Environmental + Institutional. The moderated discussions allowed the participants to review, amend, remove and add indicators to the draft list and based on their experience and know-how. The GSO will now amend the draft indicator list accordingly and share with line ministries for further commenting and revision in the months to come. Vietnam’s sustainable development statistical indicators have to be finalised by the end of 2018.

Seventeen global SDGs have been nationalized into 115 Viet Nam SDG (VSDG) targets in the “National Action Plan for Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development , based on Viet Nam’s development context and priorities, and building on the successful implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The indicators discussed during the workshop will provide a basis for the monitoring of those targets. While some of them are already included in the National Statistics Law, many are not and their definition and calculation is challenging due to lack of data, calculation methodology or international metadata. The indicator work of the GSO and supported by local and international experts is based on the list of global indicators of the UN, and other experience from Vietnam and other countries.

The workshop was held within the framework of the Macroeconomic Reforms/Green Growth Programme, implemented by GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).