Seminar on sharing experiences on economic, ecological and social transition between Vietnam and the Federal Republic of Germany

The seminar was attended by Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim (Party Secretary, Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU); Mr. Philip Degenhardt (Director of the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung - RLS Southeast Asia Office in Vietnam); Mr. Phan Dinh Phung (Provincial Party Committee Member, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Phu Yen Province); Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Duc (Editor-in-Chief of Science Magazine, Former Vice President of VNU); Mr. Le Van Cuu (Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Phu Yen Province) and more than 20 scientists and experts from leading research institutes in Vietnam. More than 40 delegates representing departments, branches of Phu Yen Province and press agencies were also present at the seminar.

Speaking at the seminar, Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim emphasized that this event is within the framework of the cooperation project between RLS Foundation and IPAM in 2019 with the theme "One tinterdisciplinary approach to economic, ecological, social andawarenesson policy in Vietnam”. This is also a follow-up activity to a seminar on the topic of economic - ecological - social transformation held in Can Tho in 2018. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Van Kim hopes that the cooperation project between IPAM and RLS on economic - ecological - social transformation will not only expand the understanding of this component in the scientific community, but also promote it to become a system of values, a system of criteria in the process of policy making, policy advocacy in particular and the sustainable development of Vietnam in general.

The seminar listened to 11 reports sharing experiences of German and Vietnamese experts on issues of economic-ecological-social transition and sustainable development policy making; from which solutions were proposed for Vietnam. Among them were two reports by two German experts: Prof. Michael Brie (Senior Expert of the Institute for Social Assessment of the RLS Foundation in Berlin) and Dr. Joachim Spangenberg (Research Coordinator, Vice President of the SERI German Institute for Sustainable Europe). The discussion session had more than 20 exchanges of opinions between experts as well as with local policy makers, creating a lively academic atmosphere. The delegates at the seminar helped to suggest many new research issues.

Chairing both sessions, Mr. Phan Dinh Phung expressed his appreciation for the contributions of German and Vietnamese experts. He said: "For many decades, Vietnam and the Federal Republic of Germany have always had a good traditional bilateral relationship and cooperation, making positive contributions to the country's construction and development... Today's scientific seminar is one of the activities that contributes to marking these meaningful cooperative activities."

He also noted that listening to the experiences of German experts in research and policy making in the context of economic - ecological - social transition is the basis for agencies and sectors to propose solutions to synchronously implement the goals of economic development and ecological - social balance in Phu Yen province. This is a land with a rich history - culture and a very important position in the development process of Vietnam.

At the end of the discussion, Mr. Philip Degenhart expressed his hope that the cooperation activities between IPAM and RLS SEA will continue to be as successful as this discussion. The discussion has profound scientific and practical significance not only for the scientific community of Vietnam and the Federal Republic of Germany, but also helps provide valuable arguments for the policy-making process in Vietnam.

Some pictures at the seminar: