On August 15th, 2022, the Legal Department, Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA), with the assistance of GIZ Social Inclusion Component - Macroeconomic Reform/Green Growth Programme, held a technical workshop on “Labour and social affairs in Viet Nam Green Growth Strategy (VGGS) for the period 2021-2030, vision to 2050 and National Action Plan on Green Growth”. The workshop is the first event in a series of activities aiming to assist the MOLISA in developing MOLISA’s Action Plan to implement the VGGS for the period 2021-2030. The workshop’s participants include the representatives of specialized units under the MOLISA such as Department of Legal Affairs, Department of Employment, Department of Gender Equality, Department of Child Affairs, Department of Work Safety, The Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs, the representatives of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance as well as other experts and researchers.

At the workshop, the speakers presented about the key points of the VGGS for the period 2021 - 2030, vision to 2050 as well as the requirements and tasks set for ministries and sectors to implement the National Action Plan on Green Growth for 2021-2030, which was promulgated by the Prime Minister on July 22, 2022. Newly updated contents in the VGGS for the period 2021-2030 include specific quantitative targets and indicators on the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions, green production, green economy, the goals and solutions in regard to social dimensions of green growth. In addition, the participants exchanged opinions about the results of the implementation of the MOLISA's Green Growth Strategy for the period 2012 - 2020, including the gender gap in green growth. A number of accomplishments have been recognized, for instance, the tasks assigned to the Ministry’s units have been integrated into the target programs for implementation; awareness and interest in green growth and the social aspects in green growth has been improved and strengthened among the staffs; green growth elements have been integrated in the field of international cooperation, including a variety of agreements and memorandums of understanding. Nevertheless, the implementation process of the VGGS for the previous period also shows that there remains some shortcomings, for example, resources and funding for the units’ task implementation process are not guaranteed; the MOLISA's Action Plan has not been disseminated extensively and actively to each implementing unit and staff; information connection and coordination among implementing units are still limited; and a set of indicators to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Action Plan has yet to be developed.

In concluding remarks, Dr. Nguyen Van Binh – General Director of the Legal Department under the MOLISA, emphasized the requirements and tasks set out to the Ministry, including 02 task groups. Firstly, it is necessary to define specific tasks of each unit under the MOLISA in order to ensure the successful implementation of the Ministry’s Action Plan on Green Growth. Secondly, the MOLISA is responsible for ensuring that the inclusiveness factor is not mitigated, and that vulnerable groups are not “left behind” in the implementation of the VGGS. This can be addressed by contributing opinions and consulting with other ministries/sectors on labor issues and social impacts in economic growth. Following that, Dr. Binh also called on the units having representatives attend the workshop to focus on strengthening communication and information exchange to improve the efficiency of coordination and participation in integrating social aspects in the implementation of the VGGS.