Vietnam has high growth potential. Moreover 65 percent  of population is working age, there is an attractive dosmetic market. Vietnam’s economy has to shift to a market economy to reform the economy – a structural reform needed to modernize the economy. Provetly levels have dropped dramatically. The government allows state-owned companies to diversify their investments. That is one of the easiest ways to increase GDP. The combination between Vietnam and the world is very impressive. It has joined many economic associations and signed trade agreements. Vietnam could expect to increase GDP from TPP and AEC. Vietnam’s eagerness to sign the TPP and restructure the economy to prepare for future competition.
Vietnam ranked 68 out of 144 economies in the Global Competitiveness Index for the period 2014-2015. There is a lot of room to improve, and Vietnam needs to reform otherwise it will face the risk of falling into the middle income trap. Vietnam has advantages in terms of market size, health, primary education and labor market efficiency – but it suffers from infrastructure. Vietnam must move from a low-wage economy to a highly skilled and trained country. Vietnamese enterprises must stick to the global value chain. The Vietnamese government has streamlined the bureaucracy and improved the role of civil society. Integration will require new standards of fair competition and transparency from the government. I believe that if Vietnam can burn the creativity and dynamism of its people, Vietnam should have the opportunity to thrive and take advantage of its integration into the world economy.

Writer: Nguyen Thu Ha (No.06)

Source of the Article: “The past and the Hopeful Future of Vietnam’s Economy” – by Le Dang Doanh

IRD (The French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development) is an international multidisciplinary organization presenting in approximately fifty countries. It is focusing on research, expertise, training and knowledge-sharing to the benefit of countries and regions that make science and innovation key drivers in their development.

Being in Vietnam since the early 1990s, IRD researchers cooperate with Vietnamese colleagues to build and share original scientific knowledge that will eventually be applied and used for a sustainable development of the countries in the field of social, health, enviromental sciences. Besides that, IRD is also doing the training for students and young researchers and supporting them either financially or through posted researchers, and in assembling multidisciplinary collaborative networks.

There are two main activities of IRD in Vietnam:

• Scientific Activities: including three major areas
• Environment and resources: Climate change and natural hazards; Coastal erosion; Ecosystems and biodiversity; Biogeochemical cycles and enviromental pollution; Production and food security
• Societies: Vulnerability, inequality and growth; Boundaries and social and spatial dynamics
• Health: Nutition; Health and Environment
• Partnerships: IRD has established long-term partnerships with the main Vietnamese research and training institutions ( Ministry of Science and Technology, Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, many universities,…) as well as the international organizations and agencies in Vietnam ( Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, WHO, World Bank, UNDP,…)

One of the most impressed activities of IRD in Vietnam for me is the research on coastal erosion problem and mitigation in the Mekong Delta and Hoi An City. As a result of global warming and climate change, the level of the sea is rising significantly and some parts of Vietnam Mekong Delta is sinking in the water. That’s the reason why the research of IRD is very important . Based on that research people can take the timely action to save our land.

Writer: Le Ngoc Anh (No. 03)

IRD in Vietnam- A major scientific referent on development challenges

Source: www.vietnam.ird.fr/content/…/1/…/dépliant_représentation_Vietnam_UK_mail.pdf

IRD France

Writer: Tran Thi Thu Trang / No.19

The article mentions the urban development with the heavy investment from domestic and international organizations and with the efforts to transform and enhance Hanoi as a global city, including Economic industrialization and high-tech clustering; developing the metropolitan fabric such as transportation, housing, commercial places,…

Accordingly, among the innovative activities, I’m quite interested in Hoa Lac Hi-tech park (HHTP) – one of the first projects of the Vietnamese Government with the aim to develop hi-tech industry and national R&D with the total area of 15.5. km2. The main functions of HHTP are Education and Training, Software – R&D – Silicon Valley, General Service area, Residential and office buildings, Hotels and facilities for experts and workers, Entertainment and sports center. HHTP is known as a platform of modern city with full of utility services and the main functional areas as above. The location of HHTP is also quite convenient, 25km from the center of Hanoi and 40km from Noi Bai Airport, next to Hanoi National University and other academic institutions, via Thang Long highway – the longest and most modern highway in Vietnam. In my opinion, with the pressure on the transportation with the huge population in Hanoi which is expected to reach 10 million by 2030, HHTP seems to be a good location for the living with jobs,
utility services, and entertainment with modern technology in a real community. As a result, this could help decrease the environmental pollution, transportation & traffic congestion, land insufficient,… in Hanoi. However, the fact shows that many local Vietnamese, especially parents and students seem to be afraid of living far away from center of Hanoi without any affordable and reliable commuting system. Therefore, HHTP really needs to focus more to develop more higher education projects towards the knowledge economy, to satisfy and attract more people to enjoy their living and working/studying there.

Sources: journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cities

The new Hanoi: Opportunities and challenges for future urban development

Thanks to the article, I have deeper knowledge about what is the social business, what social enterprises do, what is the target and mission of social enterprises…

I also gain more knowledge about some social organizations, in which I impressed the most is  CSIP. CSIP develops the social entrepreneurship ecosystem and build a strong community of social enterprises in Vietnam and regionally through Inspiring, Empowering and Connecting social enterprises and social entrepreneurs who are solving the social and environmental issues by their sustainable and creative business solutions.

I had 2 times working with CSIP members when I was second-year student at FTU. My club is ENACTUS, which is established and operated with the same target and mission as CSIP. We organized a contest called “FBA INNOVATION CHALLENGE” and invited some CSIPers to be the judge of this competition. It was very meaningful. And the project who won the 1st prize is “STRAW”, which connects handicapped people in Hanoi, and let them make some gifts and handicrafts then sells to the foreigners. Now it is still working

Innovation and change management interact together. On each stage of innovation process, change management plays a different role to shape or control the idea generation and the implementation in order to achieve change outcomes. Change outcomes are the results of innovation process with change management tool

Writer: Nguyen Pham Thuy Duong (number 05)