An In-Depth Look at PFM Reform in Vietnam

Public Financial and Civil Service Reform in Vietnam: Great Strides Made
April 1, 2009

The April ICGFM DC Forum presented intriguing analysis of reform in the government of Vietnam. Guest speaker Dr. Clay Wescott, Director of the Asian-Pacific Governance Institute and Visiting Lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School described "evidence based public administration reform".

2009 04 01 Towards Evidence Based Public Administration Reform In Viet Nam

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Dr. Wescott and two graduate students completed a comprehensive on site study of the Government of Vietnam Financial, and Human Resource infrastructure. This was done through interviews contrasted with historical facts and statistics. The analysis suggests that the country has seen remarkable improvement in public sector reform as compared with neighbouring and competing countries.

Vietnam has become leading competitor in the global market. The strategy for expedited growth began in 2001. This growth has been attributed to various factors especially the improvement in tax revenue implementation, expenditure reform and public financial management.

There are ample investment opportunities in Vietnam. The presenters cautioned that there is a lack of transparency and concerns about public agency corruption.

2009 04 01 Implementation Of Civil Service Legislation In Vietnam

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Civil service reform in Vietnam requires capacity building and retention. The growth in the private sector has provided more opportunities outside government. Improved capacity building will enable improvement in public financial management. Compensation strategies are needed to improve retention of talented civil servants.

The team recommends improved training and transparency. Transparency can be improved through a more independent financial watchdog with strong powers.

An In-Depth Look at PFM Reform in Vietnam

DC Forum

An In-Depth Look at PFM Reform in Vietnam

The April 1 DC Forum to be held at the Carnegie Endowment focuses on the exciting public financial management reforms in Vietnam.

Regarded as one of the most determined reformers in Asia, Vietnam has transitioned from a war-torn centrally planned economy to one of the most vibrant and fastest growing economies in the world. This session will present the results of two in-depth and in-country studies of reform in Vietnam; one sponsored by the United Nations Development Program, and the other by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs of Princeton University. The first looks at PFM reform, and concludes that considerable progress has been made in PFM and related reform components, but that consolidation and further improvement needs to occur. The second argues that adopting elements of a position-based civil service is key to PFM and related reforms, since Government must be capable of attracting and retaining skills in macroeconomic forecasting, accounting, auditing, treasury management, and ICT needed to implement such reforms.

The presentation will be led by Dr. Clay Wescott, Director of the Asia-Pacific Governance Institute, and Visiting Lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School. He has invited graduate students who worked on the civil service part of the research to present their findings. Dr. Westcott has held senior positions with the Asian Development Bank, UNDP, Development Alternatives Inc., Price Waterhouse and the Harvard Institute for International Development. Dr. Wescott has degrees in Government from Harvard College (A.B., 1968, Magna cum Laude), and Boston University (PhD, 1980). Dr. Wescott has invited Saskia P. Bruynooghe and Trina Alejandra Q. Firmalo to join him. They are second year MPA students at the Wilson School, who conducted the research on strengthening the civil service in Vietnam.

This in-depth view of reform in one of the most significant developing countries in Asia will undoubtedly be a fascinating insight into issues that face countries around the developing world.

Register for this presentation or the entire season

The International Consortium sponsors a learning forum and luncheon the first Wednesday of each month from January through June, and from September through December, at The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Sessions begin at 11:45 and details can be found on the Upcoming Events page. Summaries of the presentations and question-and-answer periods which follow are published on the ICGFM blog