"Vietnam's development issues in the "new normal"

The workshop focused on changes in economic and social policies after the Covid-19 pandemic in Vietnam during the transition to a more sustainable, flexible and safer recovery and development phase. The research and discussion results of the workshop are expected to contribute to Vietnam's development policies in a "new normal state". The workshop also marked a long-term cooperation between the USSH and Irish Aid (Embassy of Ireland).

Prof. Dr. Hoang Khac Nam and Dr. Le Lena (Faculty of International Studies) chaired the Workshop.

The workshop was organized with 2 sessions chaired by Prof. Dr. Hoang Khac Nam and Dr. Le Lena (Faculty of International Studies).

Session 1 includes 3 presentations: "Steering the Vietnamese economic boat through the Covid-19 storm" by Dr. Le Xuan Sang (Deputy Director of the Vietnam Economic Institute), "Solutions to restore and develop Vietnam's tourism in the new normal state" by Dr. Nguyen Anh Tuan (Director of the Institute for Tourism Development Research) and "Social sentiment towards groups in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic" by Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Chien (Institute of Sociology - Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences).

Dr. Le Xuan Sang (Deputy Director of Vietnam Economic Institute) presented a paper 

Session 2 includes 2 presentations: "Some issues raised about labor and production models in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic" by Dr. Pham Thu Lan (Deputy Director of the Institute of Workers and Trade Unions) and "Labor and social security policies to maintain labor relations with vulnerable labor groups" by Dr. Tran Thi Thanh Ha (Head of Labor Relations Department - Vietnam General Confederation of Labor).

Dr. Tran Thi Thanh Ha (Head of Labor Relations Department - Vietnam General Confederation of Labor) presented a paper

Dr. Pham Ngoc Toan (Institute of Labor Science and Social Affairs - Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs) commented on the presentations.

Concluding the conference, Prof. Dr. Hoang Khac Nam emphasized the diversity of discussion topics: from the fields of economics, tourism, to social issues (social mood and social security) or employment, labor relations. The presentations outlined the picture of the social situation under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The issues have an impact on each other and people are the ones most affected by these issues.

However, Covid-19 also has opportunities and challenges, and the consequences for countries are different, so the solutions proposed are compared and learn from the experiences of countries outside of Vietnam. The presentations raised the need for new approaches to solving problems of recovery and development, maintaining recovery and growth momentum, as well as the need to focus on issues related to human life, because this is the main subject. On that basis, the workshop also made preliminary forecasts about development in the new normal future, in which factors such as human trust also play an important role.