GUIDEBOOKS TO FRENCH COOPERATION IN VIETNAM

FRANCE-VIETNAM COOPERATION FACTS AND FIGURES 2007 Edition

Production of this guidebook was coordinated by Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, Le Phuong Thao and Véronique Saugues Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Department (SCAC) Embassy of France in Vietnam Translated by David Rorke

Design and Printing

[email protected]

Guidebook N0. 1 - 2007 Edition

Foreword Our first edition of “Facts and Figures” came out in 2003 as part of an informational series about French cooperation in Vietnam. Our new edition herewith presents a broad overview of various achievements in the framework of French cooperation with Vietnam in 2006. I note that this cooperation is taking place in an increasingly dynamic and motivating context. The reform efforts undertaken by the government of Vietnam are being rewarded with exemplary - sometimes even spectacular - results as far as the country’s socio-economic development is concerned. The time is coming closer when Vietnam will advance into the category of middle income countries, leading donors to take note of what this growth means in terms of new partnership arrangements on an equal footing with Hanoi. Meanwhile, the various harmonization processes instituted among aid providers or between them and the Vietnamese authorities are gradually maturing. All are involved with conviction and seeking to work together in response to the demand for greater aid effectiveness, in which the assessment of what has been accomplished in relation to the amounts invested occupies an increasingly important place. Although 2006 marked a new direction for the Vietnamese government and donors alike with the enactment and submission of new strategic documents for official development assistance (ODA), 2007 is when these documents are actually going to be put to use. In September 2006, France signed a Partnership Framework Document (Document cadre de partenariat – DCP) 2006-2010.The aid commitments it announced for 2007 at the Consultative Group meeting in December 2006 are fully in keeping with what it pledged in the partnership document. In this context, new projects are already being designed either to follow through on ongoing cooperation initiatives or to upgrade or restructure our focus on priority issues to keep in step with the changes and growth taking place in Vietnam.These new projects may be implemented starting in 2008 and will be covered in the next edition of this brochure. Let me conclude by reiterating here our commitment to pursue dialogue with all other donors and the Vietnamese government at all existing levels and to make our contribution whenever the time is right, be it for Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSC), the experiment with reform of the country’s operating system (One UN in Vietnam), or the “EU-VN Masterplan” wherein France is steering the dialogue with Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice. To achieve this, France will first attempt to contribute to the European Union’s harmonization process and ensure aid coordination in this framework,notably throughout France’s term at the chair in 2008.We trust that this initiative will be successful with the help of all the other Member States.

Jean-François Blarel Ambassador of France to Vietnam

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Contents Foreword ...................................................................................................................................

3

The France-Vietnam Partnership Framework .......................................................................... 6 Background in Vietnam ................................................................................................................ Vietnam’s Key Development Plans ................................................................................................. Figures for French Official Development Assistance (ODA) ............................................................... Overview of International ODA in 2004-2007 ................................................................................. Operators and Instruments of French Aid ...................................................................................... Stopover of a French Naval Vessel at Da Nang ................................................................................ Stakeholders in Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation ................................................. French Assistance Priorities or Partnership Framework Document (DCP) ...........................................

6 7 9 10 11 14 18 19

I. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) .............................................................................. 20 Development of the Production Sector .................................................................................. 20 Support for Municipal Infrastructure Development (HCMC Investment Fund) ................................... 20 The SME Sector Development Program ......................................................................................... 21

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Infrastructure Development ......................................................................................................... Support for Electricity Sector Development .................................................................................... Civil Nuclear Facilities .................................................................................................................. Urban Environment Upgrading - A Pilot Project in the Center Region ................................................ Access to Drinking Water in Urban Areas - The Mekong Delta Program ............................................. Natural Hazard Protection - Reinforcement of the Upstream Saigon River Banks ................................ Holistic Environmental Project for Hoi An ....................................................................................... Upgrading the Drinking Water Network in Ha Dong ....................................................................... National Center for Water Works and Environment Training (CNEE) .................................................. Project for a Pilot Urban Rail Transit Line from Nhon to Hanoi Station ............................................... Rail Transportation - A Key Pillar in French Economic Cooperation in Vietnam ..................................... Two Projects Marking the AFD’s First Involvement in the Transportation Sector - Hanoi Metro and Hanoi-Lao Cai Railway ...........................................................................................................

22 22 22 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 28

Agriculture and Food Security ....................................................................................................... Support for the Phu Tho Tea Industry ............................................................................................. Rural Infrastructure in Ninh Thuan ................................................................................................ Exporting Vegetable and Fruit Produce from the Da Lat Region (PRCC) .............................................. Support for the Framing of Agriculture Policies - MISPA Project ........................................................ SUSPER Project ............................................................................................................................ Agriculture Health Policy .............................................................................................................. Agriculture and Rural Development Projects under Decentralized Cooperation .................................. French Food Aid Counterpart Funds ..............................................................................................

29 29 30 30 31 32 33 34 38

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Health and AIDS Prevention ......................................................................................................... 39 AIDS Prevention .......................................................................................................................... 39 Medico-social and Primary Health Care Projects ............................................................................. 40 Hospital Partnerships ................................................................................................................... 41 Institut Pasteur .......................................................................................................................... 42 Avian Influenza and Emerging Diseases ......................................................................................... 43 Avian Influenza Prevention: AVSF .................................................................................................. 43 Malaria Prevention ...................................................................................................................... 44

II. France’s Cross-cutting Priorities in Vietnam ........................................................................ 45 Elite Training and Scientific Research ............................................................................................. Major Directions of France’s Training Policy..................................................................................... Delocalized Training Programs: A French University in Vietnam ........................................................ The PFIEV: A Training Program for Engineers of Excellence in Vietnam ............................................... The France-Vietnam Center for Management Training (CFVG) ......................................................... Establishment of “CampusFrance Vietnam”.................................................................................... The Embassy’s Scholarship Programs ............................................................................................ Coaching the Vietnam Government’s Scientific Policy ..................................................................... The Priority Solidarity Fund “Support for Research on the Challenges of the Economic and Social Transition in Vietnam”(FSP2S) ....................................................................................... Export Trade Capacity-Building:The PRCC ...................................................................................... Training in the Health Sector ........................................................................................................

45 45 45 46 47 48 49 51 54 55 56

Cultural Affairs and Francophony .................................................................................................. 57 L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center (CCF) and the French Cultural Network in Vietnam .................. 57 The IDECAF in Ho Chi Minh City .................................................................................................... 58 Francophony Month .................................................................................................................... 59 Cultural Affairs and Francophony .................................................................................................. 59 Courses Offered by L’Espace-CCF ................................................................................................... 60 Dissemination of the French Language .......................................................................................... 61 Cooperation in the Audiovisual Field .............................................................................................. 64 Skills Development Program for Vietnamese Journalists .................................................................. 65 Maintaining Cultural Diversity by Promoting Contemporary Creation and Enhancement of Vietnam’s Heritage ....................................................................................... Cultural Diversity and Promotion of Contemporary Creation ............................................................ France a Central Figure in Festivals in Vietnam ................................................................................ Support for Cultural Development in Vietnam ................................................................................ Enhancing Vietnam’s Museographical Heritage ............................................................................. Multilateral Cultural Cooperation .................................................................................................. The Nguyen Van Vinh Publishing Aid Program (PAP) ........................................................................ Giving Prominence to the Written Word in Southeast Asia ............................................................... Media Center Plan .......................................................................................................................

66 66 68 69 70 71 71 72 73

Governance and the Rule of Law ................................................................................................... Cooperation in the Legal Field and the Vietnamese-French House of Law .......................................... Administrative Reform in Vietnam ................................................................................................ Modernizing the Notarial Profession in Vietnam ............................................................................. Budgetary Reform ....................................................................................................................... Microfinance Cooperation ............................................................................................................ Coaching the Economic Transition ................................................................................................. Fund for Expertise and Capacity Building No. 1 (FERC1) .....................................................................

74 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation ........................................................................ 81 France-Vietnam Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation ................................................ 81 Project Database for France-Vietnam Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation ................... 83

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Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k

The France-Vietnam Partnership Framework Background in Vietnam With a population of 82 million people and still highly dependent on its agricultural tradition, Vietnam has gradually moved toward globalization and to a “socialist-oriented”market economy based on the ßÊi mÌi (Renewal) policy it has been following since 1986. With its national identity founded on a strong ethnic homogeneity (85 percent Kinh), Vietnam has successfully embarked on its integration into the international financial and economic community that began with the signing of a trade and cooperation agreement with the European Community in 1995 and, more importantly, when it became a member of ASEAN in the same year, climaxed with its entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) on January 12, 2007. After enacting several laws crucial to the country’s transition into a market economy, including the Law on Businesses and the Law on Foreign Investment in 2005, Vietnam continued its efforts to round out its legal slate in this area with the enactment of 11 laws in late 2006, notably the law respecting the technology market, the law on fiscal management which will enable the country to comply with the commitments made in the WTO framework, along with the notary law which will increase the level of guarantee in real estate transactions. Along with the rapid internationalization of its economy, Vietnam is experiencing one of the strongest economic growth rates in the world,with a yearly average of 7 percent since 1997. The figure reached 8.5 percent in 2005 and 8.2 percent in 2006.

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Poverty has been reduced markedly (58.1 percent in 1993, 26 percent in 2006) and the standard of living is improving very quickly. The per capita GDP doubled in 10 years to its current level of US$ 688. The international community feels that this country could quite easily join the group of middle income countries between 2010 and 2012, and the government of Vietnam itself has indicated that its objective is to achieve a per capita GDP of US$ 1,000 by 2010. Nevertheless, the country is faced with several major challenges, particularly on the socio-economic level: maintaining sustainable economic growth, making a successful transition from a society in which the majority of members live in rural areas to a society that is more urbanized, stemming the growth of social and ethnic inequalities, and finding new horizons for its large number of young people (1.4 million youths arrive on the labor market each year). It must also sort out its public finance, find and put in place regulatory measures for its economy (such as the banking and stock market systems, energy markets and new information technologies), improve the investment environment and “equitize” State-owned enterprises. It must also succeed as quickly as possible in reforming its public administration: streamline its bloated public service, bring about transparency in working procedures, reduce State centralization by delegating certain powers to the provinces and introduce e-government.

Summary Table of Vietnam’s Economy 1986-2005 GNP breakdown (%) - Agriculture - Industry - Services GNP growth (%) - Agriculture - Industry - Services Labor breakdown (%) - Agriculture - Industry - Services Export breakdown (%) - Agriculture - Industry Growth of agriculture exports (%) Yearly average rice exports (in 1000s of tons)

1986-1990 100.0 41.1 25.4 33.5 4.9 2.6 3.2 7.8

1991-1995 100.0 30.1 28.1 41.8 8.8 4.6 13.1 8.9

1996-2000 100.0 25.7 33.5 40.8 6.4 4.4 9.7 4.9

2001-2005 100.0 22.1 39.7 38.2 7.7 4.0 10.2 7.2

73.0 11.0 16.0

72.0 11.3 16.7

69.5 11.8 18.7

61.0 15.9 23.1

56.7 43.3

48.9 51.1

34.8 65.2

26.1 73.9

21.2 612

23.4 1,734

8.1 3,656

17.5 4,016

Source: National Statistics Office (2006) Note: - The term “agriculture”is used in its broad meaning and includes agriculture, sylviculture and aquaculture. - Between 1989 and 2005,Vietnam exported over 50 million tons of rice; the average annual growth rate is 8.8 percent.

Vietnam’s Key Development Plans Sectoral development plans contributed to the successful achievement of Vietnam’s 2001-2005 Five Year Socioeconomic Development Plan (see Background in Vietnam). For the 2006-2010 period,several national sectoral strategies and plans round out the Five Year Socio-economic Development Plan (SEDP): Strategies: - The Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS), an overarching strategy adopted in May 2002,comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI). It has now been worked into the SEDP 2006-2010 and into the annual plans of the provinces of Vietnam. - Vietnam’s ODA Strategic Framework was enacted on December 29, 2006 under a regulation of the Prime Minister.The MPI is now preparing the implementation document. - Vietnam’s Sustainable Development Strategy (Agenda 21) is being coordinated by the MPI.This is to ensure the harmonious development of three sectors: economic growth, social development and environmental protection. In 2006, the priorities for Agenda 21 were identified. - The National Strategy for Transportation aims to develop transportation infrastructure to meet the socioeconomic development needs and enhance links with China. The amount of investment necessary is estimated at VND 361,439 billion. - The National Strategy for Environmental Protection to 2010 and Directions to 2020 is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE). The objectives to be reached by 2010 include: 100 percent of new production units are equipped with clean technologies or waste processing equipment;50 percent of production units obtain the environmental certificate or the ISO 14001 certificate;

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Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k

Vietnam’s Key Development Plans (cont’d)

-

-

30 percent of households and 70 percent of companies have waste sorting tools;80 percent of public places are equipped with waste disposal containers; 40 percent of built-up areas and 70 percent of industrial and free trade zones have a waste processing system. The National Strategy for Water Resources to 2020 is intended to protect the said resources and allow for their efficient exploitation for sustainable development. The Forestry Development Strategy for 2006-2020 was approved on February 2, 2007 by the Prime Minister.Its objective is to manage,develop and sustainably use 16.2 million ha of forest land;increase forest cover to 42-43 percent by 2010 and to 47 percent by 2020; achieve a growth rate of 3.5 to 4 percent a year and a share of 2 to 3 percent of the GDP. The National Strategy for HIV/AIDS Control to 2010 and Directions to 2020 is intended to bring the number of HIV/AIDS carriers down to less than 0.3 percent of the population by 2010, then by 2020 and also cut down on the negative impacts of this pandemic on Vietnam’s socio-economic development.To this end,an annual budget of VND 100 billion is planned, rounded out by an equivalent sum from international organizations.

Plans and Programs: - The SEDP for 2006-2010 is accompanied by an annual plan updated on a yearly basis. - The Public Investments Plan (PIP) prepared by the MPI catalogues investment projects under State funding that are included in the country’s development plans. - The National Program for Foreign NGO Assistance for 2006-2010 prepared and implemented by the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM) is intended to provide a legal framework for the activities of international NGOs in Vietnam. Priority is given to agriculture, rural development, health and training, as well as localities suffering from need, especially poor provinces and mountain provinces where large populations of ethnic minorities live. - The Land Administration Development Plans, coordinated by the MONRE and started in October 2005, aims to streamline land administration in Vietnam. It has a price tag estimated at US$ 500 M. - The National Poverty Alleviation Program for 2006-2010, in follow up to Program 143 conducted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (MOLISA),has the goal of reducing the number of destitute households to 10-11 percent by 2010 compared to 22 percent in 2005.With a budget of VND 43,490 billion, it includes new projects and activities such as instruction for the poor, assistance for infrastructure investment in communes experiencing particular difficulties, border areas and island territories. Policies for legal assistance, supervision and analysis are also planned. - Phase 2 of Program 135 will be implemented in over 1,600 communes in order to stamp out recurrent food shortages and reduce the rate of poor households to less than 30 percent. - The National Clean Water and Environmental Cleanliness Program for Rural Areas for 2006-2010 is the application of the strategy bearing the same name for 2000-2020. The stated objectives for 2010 are: 85 percent of rural communities have access to clean water; 70 percent of rural households have sanitary latrines;70 percent of families practicing animal husbandry have sheds that meet sanitation standards;all kindergartens, schools, infirmaries, commune offices and public buildings have access to clean water and sanitary latrines; minimize pollution in manufacturing villages, especially where food processing is done. - The Master Plan for the Planning and Development of Industries in Territorial Zones for 2006-2010 and Directions to 2020. Vietnam is divided into 6 zones wherein certain industry concentrations are recommended based on their individual comparative advantages.The purpose of this plan is to achieve an annual industrial growth rate of 15-16 percent by 2010, thus giving it a 37-38 percent share of the GDP by 2010 and 45 percent by 2020. - The Proposal for Export Development is looking at evening out Vietnam’s trade balances by 2010 and reaching a growth rate of 17.5 percent, or a turnover of US$ 72.5 billion. The highest rated products are cutting-edge industrial and technological (54 percent). The targeted export market share in decreasing order is: Asia (45 percent), America (24 percent), Europe (23 percent), Oceania (5 percent) and other (3 percent).

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The Master Plan for Sea Products Development to 2010 has set its objective on achieving an annual growth rate of 3.8 percent; an annual export growth of 10.63 percent; 1.5 to 2 million tons of sea-caught fish and 2 million tons of farmed seafood a year; 4.7 million workers in the industry.

Other programs: - The Public Administration Reform (PAR) program under the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA). - The Legal and Judiciary Reform Program implemented by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), the People’s Supreme Court, the Supreme Public Prosecutor and the National Assembly of Vietnam. These programs have been operating since the early 1990s.

Figures for French Official Development Assistance (ODA) France’s Place in Official Development Assistance in Vietnam Total ODA to Vietnam pledged for 2007 is US$ 4.446 billion (up 18.9 percent compared to 2006).The three main donors to Vietnam are now the Asian Development Bank with 25.65 percent of total aid, followed by Japan (20.02 percent) and the World Bank (20 percent). France has been in fourth place in this group for several years now, and its assistance accounts for 8 percent of all ODA in 2007.

underway (PGAE, EU, UN, major development banks) are spotlighting the exercise of social and economic planning in assistance offered to the government of Vietnam. French ODA has the following features: -

Generally speaking, international aid to Vietnam has the following characteristics: -

-

-

-

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Its volume: Vietnam continues to be one of the foremost beneficiaries of ODA (US$ 4.446 billion pledged for 2007; 3.74 for 2006, representing between 7 and 10 percent of the country’s GDP). The large number of donors: 49 bi- and multilateral donors, and approximately 500 NGOs grouped as one entity. The size of loans compared to grants: about 67.6 percent of the total. The relative rate of aid absorption within the planned time frames, the average being 60 percent, but with an improvement noted. A strong trend to seek aid efficiency as a follow-up to the High-Level Forum in Paris and the New York Summit. The harmonization processes now

-

-

-

The presence of all operators in the French cooperation mechanism (Agence française de développement, Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Department, economic mission, ADETEF). For several years now, French ODA continued to increase although its share in Vietnam’s overall ODA has lessened due to the rapid upswing in aid volume. This changed in 2005 with a strong upsurge in aid. Our aid comes in the form of grants (approximately 15 percent), most of it being made up of loans from the Emerging Nations Reserve Fund (Réserve Pays Émergents - RPE) or channeled through the AFD. Disbursements were at a level of about 69.1 percent for 2000-2005, although dropping to 34 percent in 2006 (27 percent in 2005). The base for implementation of approximately one-third of our ODA is in France itself in the form of technical assistance management, the provision of training to Vietnamese students in France, research programs and through decentralized cooperation arrangements.

Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k

Disbursements of French Official Development Assistance 2001-2006 (in millions of euros) Funds disbursed by French Embassy MINEFI ADETEF AFD (loans) AFD (gifts) AFD (PROPARCO) SCAC (annual budget) SCAC (FSP) Funds disbursed in France (est.) MAE/MCNG Other MAE MNERY (500 scholarship holders) CNRS CIRAD IRD Territorial communities Other line ministries Total ODA Grand total (including PROPARCO) Breakdown by value Nature Gifts Loans Breakdown by percentage Nature Gifts Loans

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

20.1 0.7 30.1 0.5 0.0 6.5 1.6

26.2 0.7 37.7 0.5 4.1 5.8 1.0

23.5 1.0 36.9 1.8 20.8 5.0 2.0

16.491 0.68 44.66 0 8.1 3.776 3.970

4.325 0.6 37,44 0,89 13* 5.156 5.5

12.985 0.59 52.44 0.75 0 3.595 3.227

1.0 0.3 5.0 1.0 2.5 1.0 2.0 0.2 72.5 72.5

1.0 0.6 5.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.2 85.7 89.8

1.0 1.0 5.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.2 84.4 105.2

1.259 1.0 1.925 1.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.2 80.961 89.061

1.0 1.0 32 1.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.2 95.111 174.125

1 1 32 1.0 3.0 1.0 2.0 0.2 114.787 114.787

22.3 (22.2) 50.1(50.2)

21.8 63.8 (63.9)

23.2 (24) 60.8 (60,4)

19.81 61.151

52.456 109.325

49.362 65.425

31% 69%

25% 75%

28% 72%

24.5% 75.5%

32.4 % 67.6 %

43% 57%

* Estimated PROPARCO disbursements

Overview of International ODA 2004-2007

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Source:World Bank. Donor Consultative Group meetings

Operators and Instruments of French Aid Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Department (Service de coopération et d’action culturelle – SCAC) The Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Department (SCAC) is the focal point of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministère des Affaires étrangères - MAE) for cooperation issues. Under the aegis of the Ambassador, its mission involves the strategic steering of France’s official development assistance (ODA). It has a central unit in Hanoi with a staff base of about 20 expatriate officers and 30 technical assistants,along with offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hue and three cultural centers (Da Nang,Nha Trang and Can Tho). The SCAC manages the cooperation programs set up with the Vietnamese line ministries. Working solely on the basis of grant assistance, it receives annual allocations from the MAE, which include funding packages from the Priority Solidarity Fund (Fonds de solidarité prioritaire - FSP). It brings in the resident technical assistance necessary for the deployment of projects and programs placed under it. In 2006, allocations to the Embassy amounted to € 4.5 million, while € 3.32 million was spent in the framework of 16 FSP projects for a total outstanding amount of € 32 million. Starting in 2006, the SCAC mission has been concentrating on the Organic Law of the Finance Law (Loi organique de la loi de finances - LOLF) and the Partnership Framework Document, signed in September 2006 between the two governments, which sets forth the new strategic directions of French cooperation. In this framework, based on the promotion of France’s cultural and scientific outreach as well as solidarity with regard to developing countries, the SCAC will assume responsibility for and direction of the cross-cutting priorities of French cooperation: good governance and strengthening the rule of law,provision of elite training and promoting research, outreach of francophony and defense of cultural diversity.

The Economic Missions (Missions Économiques – ME)

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The Economic Missions represent the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry (Ministère de

l’Économie, des Finances et de l’Industrie – MINEFI) in Vietnam.They play a role of economic diplomacy and support French corporate activities on the Vietnamese market. Each ME has within it a number of teams of French and local experts (trade officers), all specializing in a particular function (economic observation,multilateral issues,etc.) or in a particular sector (agribusiness, telecommunications, transportation, energy, consumer goods, health). They act as relays between the public network supporting international interchange that, in addition to the Directorate of the Treasury and Economic Policy (Direction générale du Trésor et de la Politique économique - DGTPE) in Paris, also includes Regional Foreign Trade Directorates (Directions régionales du commerce extérieur - DRCE), information agencies (Agence française pour le développement international - UBIFRANCE]) and insurance agencies (Compagnie française d’assurance pour le commerce extérieur - COFACE). The Economic and Trade Department of the French Embassy in Vietnam is located in two sites, both headed by the Economic Missions chief headquartered in the Hanoi office. The economic mission deals with sectors that are countrywide in scope, such as agriculture, fisheries, the food-processing industry, transportation, infrastructure, aeronautics and space, automobile, new information technologies and communication, audiovisual, energy, water and the environment, mines, heavy industry, financial services, as well as legal, economic and intellectual property issues. It is also in charge of all matters involving economic diplomacy and multilateral negotiations affecting Vietnam (WTO,ASEAN). The Ho Chi Minh City office deals with sectors that are countrywide in scope involving consumer goods, leather, the textile industry, pharmaceuticals, health, chemistry, real estate, distribution and tourism.

The French Development Agency (Agence française de développement – AFD) The AFD has been working in Vietnam since 1993. The total amount of net official development assistance commitments made by the AFD to Vietnam reached € 751 million at the close of 2006 and covered 37 projects, programs or credit lines. The assistance is made available mostly in the form of loans,although a limited number of grants can be mobilized for project

Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k

preparation and for capacity building activities linked to the projects or programs under funding. The AFD’s initial terms of reference focused more particularly on rural development. Its expanded task environment now hinges on three pillars: modernization of agriculture and rural areas, urban and network infrastructure and financial sector development. These three pillars reflect the priorities contained in the Partnership Framework Document signed between France and Vietnam in 2006 for the operational tools available to the AFD. The AFD’s “live” portfolio at the close of 2006 (funding committed for operations that have not yet been completed), with a breakdown according to sector, is shown in “Summary Table of AFD Disbursements in 2006”.This table also shows funding from “French Fund for the Global Environment” (Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial – FFEM) as well as the Fund for Building Trade Capacity (Fonds de Renforcement des Capacités Commerciales – FRCC) that the AFD is managing for the French authorities. The AFD is sharing in the process of improving aid efficiency through is involvement in the “Group of Five Banks”,which brings together the AFD, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the JBIC (Japan) and the KfW (Germany). The Center for Financial,Economic and Banking Studies (Centre d’études financières, économiques et bancaires CEFEB), a training department run by the AFD Group, has a steady flow of students from Vietnam (nearly forty to date) who receive training designed for senior management staff holding positions in the public, private banking or financial sectors. PROPARCO is a branch of the AFD specializing in financing private businesses. It has been active in Vietnam since a core agreement was signed on June 14,2001 with the State Bank of Vietnam.Its purpose is to promote the private sector in Vietnam, giving special consideration to three intervention areas: modernizing the financial system and structuring of long-term savings as a tool of productive investment; coaching the capital development effort of Vietnam in the field of infrastructure;corporate financing with priority given to export-driven businesses.PROPARCO provides assistance in the form of mid- and longterm hard loans or by equity capital inputs to beneficiary private businesses.

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Assistance for the Development of Economic and Financial Technology Exchanges (Assistance au développement des échanges en technologies économiques et financières – ADETEF) In Vietnam, the ADETEF has the status of a nongovernmental organization registered with the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM). In France it comes under a public interest group (Groupe d’intérêt public – GIP) made up of the government,the Deposit and Consignment Office (Caisse des dépôts et consignations), the French Development Agency, the École nationale supérieure des mines in Paris and the Group of Telecommunications Schools. It came to Vietnam in 1993 to provide technical assistance in groundwork for the Club de Paris meeting on Vietnam. From a project office located on the premises of the Ministry of Finance working mainly in training activities, ADETEF Vietnam became a venue for carrying out conventional cooperation activities (organizing seminars, training sessions and missions; commissioning and directing various studies, translating and publishing reference works, etc.) as well as handling certain more novel initiatives such as the France-Vietnam Economic and Financial Forum. It works on cooperation projects on behalf of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry (MINEFI), as well as the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Its activities are carried out in close coordination with the French cooperation apparatus. It works on behalf of the SCAC in implementing projects funded through the Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP), which comes under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ADETEF is currently working in Vietnam with such entities as the Ministry of Finance (taxation, customs, public accounting, inspection, domains, etc.), the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Trade, the National Committee for International Economic Cooperation,the State Bank of Vietnam,the National Assembly and the General Statistics Office.

Cooperation in the Area of Defense General framework Our cooperation with Vietnam in the area of defense started about a decade ago, focusing initially on

Key initiatives The budget for military and defense cooperation with Vietnam amounted to nearly € 500,000 in 2006 and was used in carrying out the following activities:

military medicine - which remains a major pillar in our partnership - and on museography. Since then, this cooperation has been expanded considerably and diversified. Such things as training of military elite, visits of French Navy ships, exchanges of delegations, General staff annual meetings and Security dialogue have been added to our list of cooperation activities with Vietnam. France is the firstWestern country to have formalized a bilateral relationship in this area, with the appointment of a defense attaché followed by the signature of an agreement between the two Ministries of Defense in 1997.

Training of Vietnamese officers in France: • 1 senior officer at the Joint War College (Collège Interarmées de Défense - CID) in Paris. • 3 student officers at Saint-Cyr Military academy (Coëtquidan) and 1 in an Army branch specialization school. • 2 naval officers in their Professional Master program at the Brest Naval Academy.

Three special memoranda were signed in order to formalize our exchanges in the framework of Army health services, including actual training in military hospitals and malaria prevention.

Military medicine: • One-year specialized internships in France for Vietnamese military doctors (intestinal surgery, orthopedics and traumatology, digestive system pathologies, etc.). • Malaria prevention project: malaria prevention research mission in Binh Phuoc province, with a gift of equipment worth over € 50,000.

A draft intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the area of defense is now being prepared and will be discussed in the near future between the two parties. The purpose is to institutionalize our relationship in this area to a greater extent.

Conferences and international seminars: • Invitation for Vietnamese auditors to attend the international sessions of the Institute of Higher National Defense Studies (Institut des hautes études de défense nationale - IHEDN).

An annual General staff meeting provides an opportunity to review the ongoing and future initiatives in the realm of military cooperation. This meeting is held alternately in France and Vietnam. The last such meeting took place in Hanoi in May 2007. Security dialogue is also gradually developing between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense of both countries in order to build exchanges on strategic issues.

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French-language instruction in the military: • French courses given in Hanoi by two Master trainees in “French as a foreign language”. • Preparation of young Vietnamese officers for the Saint-Cyr Special Military Academy entrance examination (AGIR mission). • Internships for French trainers: in France at the Rochefort International French Course (for 3 Vietnamese teachers) and in Vietnam under an AGIR mission (for 20 teachers).

Other initiatives relating to defense French Navy visits: • Visit of the “VAR”command and supply ship at Da Nang from September 25 to 29, 2006. On board was the Flag Officer of the Indian Ocean Maritime Zone (ALINDIEN). • Stopover of the helicopter carrier “Jeanne d’Arc” and the frigate “Georges Leygues” at Hai Phong from February 5 to 9, 2007, with the arrival of the Flag Officer of the Pacific Ocean Maritime Zone (ALPACI) and a delegation from the Brest Urban Community.

Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k

Delegations and official visits: • Visit by General Wolsztynski, Chief of Staff of the French Air Force, in Vietnam (March 2006). • Study trip to Vietnam by the Collège Interarmées de Défense (Hanoi-Dien Bien Phu-Hue-Ho Chi Minh City, from April 22 to 28, 2007). Support to defense industries: Accompaniment of Vietnamese delegations attending the EUROSATORY and EURONAVAL shows (June and October 2006). Technical expertise: Trip to France by a delegation of French border guards for a study mission on cooperation in the field of dog training (June 2006). Memory and heritage: Attendance by a Vietnamese delegation led by the chairman of the War Veterans’ Association at the International Days of Shared Memory held in Paris by the Vice-Minister in charge of War Veterans (October 2006).

Prospects and new challenges Hydrography and government initiatives on the sea: The Vietnamese authorities would like to develop their hydrographic department and are considering membership in the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO). Means by which France may be able to provide support or coaching in partnership with the French National Navy and the Navy’s Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department are being studied. Advice in the area of peacekeeping operations: With a view to Vietnam’s applying for a seat as a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council and the country’s possible involvement in peacekeeping operations, France is offering its expertise in this area to the People’s Army of Vietnam. The diversification and expansion of cooperation in the realm of defense between Vietnam and France are a concrete reflection of the quality of the relationship that now exists between the two countries. For more information: Lt-Colonel Yves Rols, Defense Attaché to the Embassy of France in Hanoi Email: [email protected]

Stopover of a french naval vessel at da nang The “VAR” command and supply ship with the Flag Officer of the Indian Ocean Maritime Zone (ALINDIEN) on board stopped over in Da Nang from September 25 to 28,2006.The ship was met by the Ambassador of France, the defense attaché and leading local civil and military authorities.The jurisdiction covered by ALINDIEN will soon be extended to Vietnam and the South China Sea (or East China Sea), so this visit was an opportunity to establish new contacts in view of strengthening French-Vietnamese relations in the area of defense. In addition to inter-army relations with countries bordering the zone,the key missions of ALINDIEN are the prevention of illicit trafficking and terrorism, as well as the protection of our nationals and French interests in the zone.

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For more information: Lt-Colonel Yves Rols, Defense Attaché to the Embassy of France in Hanoi Email: [email protected]

Overview of the Ongoing FSP Portfolio as of January 1, 2007 Project Project title No. 2000-033 Training of public prosecutors and promotion of law in Southeast Asia 2000-105 Support for the setting up of a training center for Vietnamese journalists 2000-107 Hanoi Center for Industrial Maintenance Training 2000-131 Support for the development of French-language teaching in Vietnam 2000-148 Support for Vietnam’s integration into international trade 2001-17 2001- 019

2001- 025 2001-050

2001-100 2001-111

2002-056 2003-027 2001-042

2002-125

Mobilization of information to support agriculture policies Support for development of the National Center for Water and Environment Training Support to cultural development in Vietnam Support for the development of training programs for high-level engineers in Vietnam II Training for education inspectors and senior management in Vietnam Characterization and enhancement of wild and domestic animal biodiversity in mountainous regions of northern Vietnam Support for Vietnamese government streamlining in economic governance Support for modernization of the notarial profession in Vietnam Synergy

Giving prominence to the written word in Southeast Asia

2003-029 Support for research on the challenges of socio-economic transition in Vietnam 2004-023 Enhancement of Vietnam’s museographical heritage 2006-16 French University Poles (PUF)

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Start date

End date

Amount in K€ Nov. 29, 2000 Dec. 30, 2006 762

Status Concluded

Oct. 30, 2002 Dec. 13, 2006

915

Final year

Oct. 30, 2002 Aug. 19, 2006

2,668

Concluded

May 31, 2001 Aug. 31, 2009

1,982

Ongoing

Oct. 30, 2002 Sept. 12, 2007

1,677

Oct. 22, 2001 July 10, 2006

Final year (extension being requested) 1,500 Transferred to the AFD on Jan. 1, 2006 1,000 Concluded

June 6, 2003 June 30, 2007

1,400

Final year

Sept. 13, 2002 Dec. 30, 2007

2,600

Final year

Oct. 30, 2002 Dec. 24, 2005

1,700

Concluded

May 14, 2003 Mar. 31, 2008

1.700

Ongoing

Jan. 23, 2003 Nov. 14, 2007

2,000

Final year

Aug. 14, 2003 Apr. 22, 2008

1,550

Ongoing

Feb. 28, 2003 July 31, 2007

413

Apr. 24, 2003 Dec. 13, 2007

327

Oct. 7, 2004 May 7, 2009

1,700

Final year (extension being requested) Final year (extension being requested) Ongoing

Oct. 7, 2004 Mar. 7, 2008

1,670

Ongoing

May 15, 2006 May 15, 2009

3,000

Ongoing

May 17, 2002 Aug. 25, 2006

Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k

Breakdown of ongoing funding from the DGTPE (RPE and FASEP studies) in Vietnam (€ 368.97 million as of April 25, 2007)

Northern Vietnam: telecoms RPE 2000 - rural tel.- € 10,3 M

Yen Bai: health RPE 1996 - hospital - € 0,61 M

Ha Dong: water RPE 2001 - netwook - € 2,29 M

Vinh: health RPE 1995 - hospital - € 0,61 M

Thai Nguyen: water RPE 1998 - waste water - € 15,85 M Yen Vien - Lao Cai: rail transport RPE 2007 - track - € 31 M Hai Phong: health RPE 1995 - hospital - € 0,76 M RPE 1995 - gynecology - € 0,76 M Hanoi: transit, health RPE 1995 - hospital - € 0,76 M RPE 2006 - subway - € 200 M

Hanoi - Vinh: rail transport RPE 2004 - signaling - € 9,7 M RPE 2005 - signaling - € 40,3 M

Hoi An :Water, environment RPE 2001 – water/waste € 8.84 M Countrywide projects: Aeronautics RPE 1995 – Civil Aviation Training Center – € 4.57 M RPE 2003 – Avionics equipment test bench – € 2.74 Remote sensing RPE 2003 – Environmental resources monitoring system – € 119.38 M

HCMC : Urban development RPE 2004 – Street lighting – € 4.5 M

Vung Tau :Water REP 1999 – Waste water – € 16 M

RPE (Emerging Nations Reserve) – Subsidized loans with grant component FASEP Studies – Subsidized studies

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Summary Table of AFD Disbursements in 2006 Loans Commit -ment year

1997 1999 1999 2000 2001 2001 2002 2002 2002 2002 2002 2003 2003 2003 2003 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2005 2005 2005 2005 2005 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006

Reference

Purpose

AFD transactions, own source account CVN 1024.01 B Village rubber plantations CVN 1046 01 F Upgrading 4 skills development centers CVN 1045 01 Rubber development 8 companies CVN1021 01 Y Mekong Delta rural electrification CVN1061 Structuring operations in Red River Basin CVN 1064 01 F AEP 5 provinces south and center CVN 1078 01 L Project for financial and institutional capacity building of VBARD - VBARD 3 PCO CVN 1078 02 M Project for financial and institutional capacity building of VBARD - VBARD 3 PTC CVN 1075 01H FSPL 2 PS1 (2nd institutional program in nonbank financial sector) CVN 1075 02 J FSPL 2 PTC (2nd institutional program in financial non-bank financial sector) CVN 1083 Fund for project studies and preparation No. 3 (FEPP 3) CVN1068 Water resources in Phuoc Hoa -PS1 CVN1068 Water resources in Phuoc Hoa – PTC CVN3000 01 X Urban environment center region - PS1 CVN3000 02 Y Urban environment center region – PTC CVN1054 Phu Tho tea CVN1054 Phu Tho tea CVN1073 Ninh Thuan CVN3005 01C SME development program CVN3005 02 D SME development program CVN1074 Son La CVN1079 01M Credit line for Mekong Housing Bank (MHB) CVN1079 02 N MHB capacity building project CVN6001 01 Electricity transmission North CVN3007 Credit line for HCMC (Municipal Investment Fund) CVN3014 MISPA CVN3001 Hanoi subway CVN6006 01 Yen Vien - Lao Cai railway CVN3013 01 Mekong urban drinking water program CVN6008 01 Saigon River CVN3016 01E CPIM CVN6007 HCMC Municipal Investment Fund capacity building project CVN6005 Fund for studies and capacity building No. 1 (FERC 1)

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(Euros, millions) Grants

Total

Pledged Remit- Pledged Remit- Pledged Remitted ted ted 2006 2006 2006

593.31 52.11 15.24 0.01 12.80 0.04 35.00 2.87 19.00 5.35 35.00 4.64 12.36 0.08 50.00 0.00

9.19

0.51 602.50 15.24 12.80 35.00 19.00 35.00 12.36 50.00

52.62 0.01 0.04 2.87 5.35 4.64 0.08 0.00

5.00

0.11

5.00

0.11

30.00

5.90

30.00

5.90

5.00

1.60

5.00

1.60

1.50

0.17

26.90 2.70 25.00 5.00 7.70 0.80 10.50 31.50 3.50 11.90 23.00 2.00 40.00 30.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.82 1.50 0.20 0.00 10.00 1.00 3.00 15.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

0.54 80.50 32.50 32.00 11.75 0.80 1.50

0.33 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

1.50

0.00

1.50 26.90 2.70 25.00 5.00 7.70 0.80 10.50 31.50 3.50 11.90 23.00 2.00 40.00 30.00

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.82 1.50 0.20 0.00 10.00 1.00 3.00 15.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

80.00 32.00 30.00 11.40

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

0.54 0.50 0.50 2.00 0.35 0.80 1.50 1.50

0.17

0.33 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Th e F r a n c e -Vi e t n a m Pa r t n e r s h i p F r a m e w o r k

Summary Table of AFD Disbursements in 2006 (cont’d) Loans Commit -ment year

2003 & 2005

2002 2002 2004

Reference

Purpose

(Euros, millions) Grants

Total

Pledged Remit- Pledged Remit- Pledged Remitted ted ted 2006 2006 2006

Funds under AFD management Fund for Commercial Capacity Building (FRCC) CVN3003 Fund for Commercial Capacity Building (FRCC) French Fund for the Global Environment (FFEM) CVN1082 FFEM/NIAH CVN1082 02 G FFEM/Cat Tien CVN1091 Integrated, sustainable public transit – Hanoi TOTAL AFD

593.31

52.11

6.05 3.00

0.58 0.41

6.05 3.00

0.58 0.41

3.00

0.41

3.00

0.41

3.05

0.17

3.05

0.17

0.47 0.58 2.00 15.24

0.03 0.47 0.05 0.58 0.09 2.00 1.09 608.55

0.03 0.05 0.09 53.20

Stakeholders in Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation The presence of French territorial communities and NGOs is a hallmark of French cooperation in Vietnam. There are a great many proximity stakeholders of this nature. According to the database set up by the Embassy of France in Vietnam and updated regularly, there are nearly a thousand such Vietnamese and French actors, including: -

-

-

-

-

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Local communities. Fifty or so are on record, and about 15 of them have a regular,close cooperation relationship with their partners. International solidarity organizations (ISOs). Close to 90 French ISOs are currently registered with PACCOM (agency in charge of coordinating the activities of NGOs and licensing ISOs in Vietnam), while some 200 others carry out regular or one-off activities. Universities. 150 official agreements have been made that sanction current or past links between French and Vietnamese academic institutions. Research institutes. At least fifty scientific cooperation projects are being conducted with an affiliation between French and Vietnamese research laboratories. Hospital partnerships. 25 official agreements materialize such partnerships, although coope-

-

-

ration links in this area are much more extensive. The Intern Function program (Faisant fonction d’internes – FFI) has enabled over 1,000 Vietnamese practitioners to be hosted by French hospitals during the last 12 years. Many forms of twinning that involve public, semipublic or consular facilities (trade councils, chambers of commerce, museums, libraries, colleges, and the like). Viet-Kieu associations, which are many in number and very active.

Aiming to share their experiences and raise awareness regarding the input of non-governmental cooperation to French official development assistance (ODA), French communities have held a number of meetings or forums on the specific theme of decentralized France-Vietnam cooperation: Lille (1996), Dinan (1997), Poitiers (1998), Pont-à-Mousson (2000), Toulouse (2003), and for the first time in Vietnam (Hue) in June 2005. The 7th edition of this forum will take place on October 22 and 23,2007 in Montreuil.

For more information: Agnès Schilling, Program Officer, SCAC Email: [email protected]

French Assistance Priorities or Partnership Framework Document (DCP) France’s solidarity strategy in Vietnam attempts to take into consideration the realities and current priorities of this now emerging country in order to walk it through its socio-economic transformation and regional and international integration. Until late 2005, France’s aid instruments in Vietnam focused on the five priorities highlighted in a Strategic Country Document (Document stratégique pays – DSP) that had been in effect since 2001: good governance training, strengthening the rule of law, modernizing higher education and research, promoting cultural diversity and francophony, providing assistance for integration into international economic exchanges and poverty alleviation. Starting in 2005, but with no intention of putting an end to programs currently being implemented,France wanted to restructure its ODA and focus it on sectors where the needs of the Vietnamese economy are the most pressing, while aligning it with the priorities identified by the government of Vietnam it its Socioeconomic Development Plan (SEDP) 2006-2010. This new direction given to our cooperation strategy is outlined in a Partnership Framework Document (Document cadre de partenariat - DCP) signed by the two governments in September 2006 for the 20062010 period.

The DCP highlights two major themes: -

-

Focus sectors linked to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that include support for the production sector, infrastructure, agriculture and rural development and AIDS prevention; Cross-cutting priorities that include promotion of cultural diversity and francophony, higher education, scientific research, support to good governance and the rule of law and support to decentralized and non-governmental cooperation.

Under this new framework, French ODA will be channeled in close liaison with the other donors with a view to aid harmonization and efficiency. This thrust has taken concrete form by such things as France’s membership in the Partnership Group for Aid Effectiveness (PGAE), cooperation activities at the European level under the chairmanship of the European Union, in the harmonization effort being made by the group of 5 development banks,as well as at the main levels of dialogue, including the Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC), the Vietnam government’s financial reform and the United Nations Operational System reform.

For more information: Emmanuelle Boulestreau, Deputy Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Counsellor Email:[email protected]

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M i l l e n n i u m D e v e l o p m e n t ( M D G s )

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I. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Development of the Production Sector Support for Municipal Infrastructure Development HIFU Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the main socio-economic hub of the country, is facing fast-track urbanization and escalating infrastructure demands that cannot be met by the city’s budget alone. For this reason the HIFU, the first municipal investment fund in Vietnam,was established in 1996 by the People’s Committee of HCMC. Its purpose is to mobilize outside funding and private investments for the city’s urban infrastructure projects. The AFDfunded project in support of the HIFU aims to provide flanking measures for the HIFU’s increased commitments in social and environmental infrastructure. In Vietnam, the HIFU is considered a benchmark municipal investment fund because of its long record

of activity on this new market (established in 1996) and the volume of its transactions. This pilot institution is the first bilateral operation of the AFD in a municipal investment fund in Vietnam. This assistance is in keeping with the policy of gradually decentralizing municipality administrative and financial affairs. The credit line of € 30 million for which an agreement was signed with the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance in September 2006 is intended to meet the growing demand for basic social and environmental services and to support controlled,sustainable urban growth in Ho Chi Minh City. In concrete terms, this means increasing the number and quality of social infrastructure facilities in the areas of health, education and public housing, as well as environmental infrastructure to reduce water pollution and promote resorption of solid waste.This line includes a grant of € 1.5 million in funding for a capacity building program for the HIFU and its main strategic partners. This assistance provided to the HIFU is intended to help improve living conditions for the populace of this rapidly growing urban center. This support strategy for the sustainable development of cities is a major pillar in France’s cooperation policy in Vietnam and is highlighted in the Partnership Framework Document. There has been quick follow-through on implementation of this credit line, with the first two remittances totaling € 12 million being disbursed in

20

the first quarter of 2007. These remittances were mainly used to refinance projects for the upgrading of access to health care, educational infrastructure and solid waste management.

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.afd.fr

The SME Sector Development Program The private sector in Vietnam, and foremostly the SME sector, appears as the key economic development driver in the country as well as the main source of jobs to absorb the arrival 1.5 million people each year on the labor market. Confronted with this challenge, the government of Vietnam has been undertaking a series of reforms for several years now to promote private businesses and put in place an environment that is more conducive to their growth and competitiveness. The SME Development Program is sectorial in nature. It has been placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Planning and Investment (Agency for SME Development – ASMED) and focuses on two objectives: • Making available an institutional and strategic framework more conducive to SME development: improving the system for SME registration and issuance of permits; establishing an institutional framework for SME development (information

systems on SMEs, markets, statistics, government regulations, technical standards, certifying agencies, etc.). • Implementing various initiatives to facilitate SME access to financial resources, land and international markets. The SME Development Program with a total price tag of US$ 165 M is being co financed by the AFD in the amount of € 35 million,the Asian Development Bank and the KfW. This is concrete evidence of the work being done jointly by these three institutions in the group of five banks aiming at greater ODA procedure efficiency and streamlining in the spirit of the Paris Declaration and Hanoi Core Statement. Furthermore, in the framework of this program, technical assistance under PRCC funding for the Directorate for Standards and Quality (STAMEQ) has been put in place to promote and expand SME access to international markets in the wake of Vietnam’s accession to the WTO.

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.afd.fr

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M i l l e n n i u m D e v e l o p m e n t ( M D G s )

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Infrastructure Development Support for Electricity Sector Development Vietnam’s capacity to develop its energy production network and distribution grid is crucial to its keeping up with the accelerated pace of the country’s economic development. Since moving into the infrastructure sector in 2000, the AFD has made two investment packages available to Vietnam in support of electrical power network development: - An aid envelope of € 19 million was put in place in 2001 for a Mekong Delta Rural Commune Electrification project in tandem with a project under World Bank funding. The AFD funding initially was to cover the electrification of 78 communes in 15 provinces,but the costs were lower than anticipated; it was therefore possible to fund a program for an additional 60 communes, thus bringing the number of beneficiary communes up to 138. Upon completion of this project in late 2006, virtually all communes in the Mekong Delta region now have electricity service. - In 2005 financial relief in the amount of € 40 million was put in place to provide partial funding of the Northern Vietnam Electricity Transport Project.This project under implementation by the Electricity Company of Vietnam (EVN) is strengthening the high voltage electricity network in the northern region as well as the supply available to the major urban and industrial centers of Hanoi, Hai Phong and Quang Ninh. International level environmental agencies are being consulted in the implementation of this project. It will facilitate access to a cheap and reliable electricity

supply for all types of consumers in the north.The implementation time line is from 2006 to 2009. The overall cost of the project,co-funded with the Asian Development Bank and EVN, is estimated to be € 212 million (US$ 274 million). The AFD portion is allocated primarily to fund equipment acquisition for power transformer stations. Moreover, the AFD is funding over 2006 and 2007 a resident expert with the new regulatory authority for the electricity sector (Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam – ERAV), under the Ministry of Industry, to assist in setting up the regulatory mechanisms inherent in the new electricity law.This technical assistance is being offered in complement to support from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. PROPARCO, the AFD’s arm in charge of funding the private sector group, made financial assistance available to the tune of US$ 37 million for the Phu My 2.2 gas-fired power station (combined cycle), a “BOT” project,in association with an investor consortium of which the French group EDF is a member. In 2002, FINANCE ASIA and ASIA MONEY awarded this project the distinction of being the best project funding operation of the year in Asia.

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.afd.fr

Civil Nuclear Facilities

22

Vietnam has been involved in a civil nuclear project for several years now. It got underway in 2001 when the government authorized the Ministry of Industry to conduct a prefeasibility study for a nuclear power station.The decision of the Prime Minister of October 5, 2004 approved the study for construction of a nuclear power station by 2017.

In 2006,French public and private stakeholders in the nuclear power industry replied overwhelmingly to the expectations of the Vietnamese authorities: -

At the International Nuclear Energy Exhibition sponsored by the Vietnamese authorities in May 2006, the French Atomic Energy Commission

(Commissariat à l’énergie atomique – CEA), the Research Institute on Nuclear Safety (Institut de recherches sur la sûreté nucléaire – IRSN) along with the EDF and AREVA Companies jointly operated a stand and shared in a general workshop on civil nuclear energy with exhibitors from four countries (Japan, South Korea, Russia and France). -

-

On that occasion, the four French partners also held a workshop highlighting France’s expertise in this area, public acceptance and safety. It was hosted by the Embassy of France in Vietnam along with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Ministry of Science and Technology and was attended by over 100 persons, which underscores the interest that the national authorities have in this matter. Additionally, cooperation between France and Vietnam on nuclear power is supported by regular exchanges of experts in the framework of a close relationship between the Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission (VAEC) and the CEA since 2004. It was expanded in 2005 by a cooperation agreement between VAEC and the IRSN covering evaluation of nuclear facility safety and assistance for crisis management in the event of a

nuclear or radiation emergency. A further cooperation agreement was signed in July 2006 between VARANSAC (Vietnamese safety authority) and the IRSN.

For more information: Olivier Delesalle, Sector Attaché, Hanoi Economic Mission Email: [email protected]

Scientific Cooperation in Civil Nuclear Facilities To provide support for the development of a legal and regulatory framework in Vietnam, the Embassy’s Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Department (SCAC) has undertaken a number of initiatives since 2004.The Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology has been mandated to draw up the country’s first nuclear energy law, and no less than three drafting committees have been formed. France has therefore offered its expertise and in collaboration with representatives of the nuclear industry in France, a number of training initiatives has been completed, including internships with the legal departments of the CEA, AREVA and EDF, expert training at the IRSN and funding of a co-directed thesis in the area of law applied to nuclear energy. In 2006, many promotional initiatives continued to be funded by the SCAC, including France’s contribution to the May nuclear energy seminar in Hanoi, the translation of reference works for extension, training sessions and internships. The SCAC hosted a large delegation of Vietnamese parliamentarians who traveled to France in February 2007. This high-ranking delegation was invited by Senate President Christian Poncelet and was headed by Mr Ho Duc Viet, chairman of the National Assembly’s Science and Technology Commission. He is a top-ranking leader of the Communist Party of Vietnam and was able to meet each of the stakeholders in the French nuclear industry (CEA, AREVA,EDF,etc.).The delegation also toured the Civaux nuclear power plant in Vienne, the most recent addition to France’s For more information: fleet of nuclear reactors, as well as the nuclear components Alexis Rinckenbach, Cooperation Attaché, SCAC factory in Châlon-Saint-Marcel, Saône-et-Loire. Email: [email protected]

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M i l l e n n i u m D e v e l o p m e n t ( M D G s )

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Urban Environment Upgrading: A Pilot Project in the Center Region The AFD is contributing € 30 million to fund the Project for Urban Environment Upgrading in the Center Region to round out a package worth US$ 44 million made available by the Asian Development Bank. The project slated for completion in 2009 is targeting the six large centers of Thanh Hoa,Ha Tinh, Dong Ha, Lang Co, Tam Ky and Quang Ngai with the aim of strengthening basic urban environment infrastructure and utilities through rainwater drainage and flood action measures, sewage treatment, waste collection and treatment. Infrastructure installation will be accompanied by capacity building activities in order to enhance the financial self-sufficiency of “urban environment companies” in charge of municipal departments concerned with the urban environment.

The project is part of a pilot operation for the structuring of major towns that is being implemented on a participatory basis.It will coach Vietnam as it manages the challenge of urban transition. In less than 20 years,the population of cities in Vietnam will grow from 20 to 46 million inhabitants, which means an intake of nearly 1.3 million new city dwellers every year. The planned for improvement in the attractiveness of these major towns is expected to reduce the migration to Vietnam’s large metropolitan centers. This project offers the potential for partnerships with local communities in developed countries.

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.afd.fr

Access to Drinking Water in Urban Areas: The Mekong Delta Program Vietnam’s urban drinking water sector is confronted with a far-reaching change in policy that was developed in the late 1990s and that is gradually coming on its own. It involves the transformation of government public utilities under State subsidization into local public utilities of an industrial or commercial nature. This policy is based on giving responsibility to decentralized government offices and municipalities, along with the setting up of water supply companies to ensure the financial balance through the rate structure. This move entails very substantial investment requirements. The AFD is contributing to implementation of this policy through two assistance packages: -

24

Third Drinking Water and Drainage Project: This project involves the drinking water supply,drainage and sanitation in five southern provinces: Binh Duong, Tay Ninh, Ninh Thuan, Phu Yen and Kien Giang. The AFD is providing assistance in the

amountof €12.4 million to round outfunding from the Asian Development Bank. The project is scheduled for completion in 2008. -

Urban Drinking Water Supply Program in the Mekong Delta: The Mekong Delta is a priority region for development in the country. It includes a large number of cities wherein the drinking water infrastructure is either inadequate or nonexistent. The program received a pledge of funding of € 32 M from the AFD in late 2006. It will support the emergence of a sustainable funding mechanism in the sector through a number of innovative approaches for Vietnam. It will focus on successful or proactive water sector companies in the delta. Four to six provinces will be selected and will have access to project capacity building initiatives and funding. The facility in charge of the program is the Vietnam Develop-

ment Bank (VDB), in cooperation with the Ministry of Construction.Investment funding will be preceded by the approval of plans for capacity building and performance enhancement of the applicant companies. It is anticipated that upwards of 750,000 persons will benefit from

access to water and an improved level of service (conditions for access,pressure,volumes available and service hours).

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.afd.fr

Natural Hazard Protection: Reinforcement of the Upstream Saigon River Banks This project is being funded in the amount of € 11.4 M by the AFD and is intended to contribute to the balanced structuring and sustainable development of the two entities concerned, namely Ho Chi Minh City municipality and Binh Duong province, in harmony with their strategic design planning for 2010 and 2020.

• Control the supply of fresh water for irrigation and prevent soil leaching. • Improve road and river traffic. • Protect the environment and landscape as well as make the area farmer friendly. • Prevent human diseases resulting from direct contact with polluted water.

The thrust is to maintain in proximity to urban areas a high valued-added agricultural production zone or green environment zone protected from urban pressure, which is a de facto land reserve unencumbered by heavy investments and therefore potentially available for later use as dictated by urban growth.

The project is acting to alleviate the constraints experienced by a population of over 90,000 persons living on either side of the Saigon River on a area totaling 5,500 ha between the northern area of Ho Chi Minh City municipality (right bank) and the southwestern part of Binh Duong province (left bank).

The specific objectives of the project are to: • Protect the entire project zone from Saigon River flooding. • Provide effective drainage in the zone, in particular when heavy rains occur.

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.afd.fr

Holistic Environmental Project for Hoi An

25

The Hoi An sanitation project moved ahead considerably in 2006.On February 8,2006,a consortium of French corporate entities made up of VINCI (project coordinator), STEREAU and BERIM signed a contract worth € 8.84 million with the People’s Committee of Quang Nam province to put in a holistic environmental protection system for Hoi An. Spread out over 30 months, this project has support from France in the form of concessionary funding made

available by the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry of an amount equal to the full value of the commercial contract. This will be a leading technology benchmark project for Hoi An. It is a holistic project that includes both solid and liquid waste treatment as well as a component for disposing of dangerous waste (hospital). Tourism activity in Hoi An is growing by

M i l l e n n i u m D e v e l o p m e n t ( M D G s )

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leaps and bounds. The environment has taken on added importance due to the fact that this city was recognized in 1999 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This project is concrete evidence of strong FrenchVietnamese cooperation in the environmental sector. It is expected to continue, as shown by the financial commitment made by France at the last annual Donors’Conference held in Hanoi in December 2006.

For more information: Olivier Delesalle, Sector Attaché, Hanoi Economic Mission Email: [email protected]

Upgrading the Drinking Water Network in Ha Dong This proposed project for Ha Dong (a town located 12 km out of Hanoi) is designed to improve management of the town’s drinking water department. Its components include technical management of the utility (reduction of leaks in the system and rehabilitation of a drinking water treatment plant) as well as commercial and financial management of the water company.The project funding package amounting to € 2.3 million is part of a continuum of initiatives conducted previously in Vietnam in the drinking water sector which focused on the technical and commercial management of the water department,

an area in which major deficiencies are found. The VINCI Group signed a commercial contract as project implementer in March 2006 for the operations that are expected to extend over approximately 12 months.

For more information: Olivier Delesalle, Sector Attaché, Hanoi Economic Mission Email: [email protected]

National Center for Water Works and Environment Training (Centre national de formation aux métiers de l’eau et de l’environnement – CNEE) The CNEE was established in Hanoi in 1997 under an agreement between France and Vietnam worth FF 4 million.The investment has enabled the setting up of the first training center, equipping it and training some 850 technicians in the water sector.

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In 2000, in response to the desire expressed on the Vietnamese side to expand the center, France set up a Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP) worth € 1 million

through its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This project was completed in April 2006 with the result that the new center received equipment in the form of gifts in kind of a value of € 500,000 from 19 French companies. Training was given to trainers and training programs were developed (which included the translation and publication of technical books dealing with water as well as the development of teaching materials).The Vietnamese side contributed

a three-hectare piece of land to the project and a sum amounting to approximately € 500,000 for building construction. One Vietnamese director and 12 instructors have also been made available to the Center by the Ministry of Construction. Since the conclusion of the FSP project in April 2006, 358 persons from clean water supply companies (in Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Tuyen Quang, Bac Giang, Bac Kan, Son Tay,Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh) received on-the-job or short-term certificate training. The center is also used as a workshop for approximately 2,000 students each year from the School of Construction and Urban Structures located on the same campus.It also takes in trainees from the Universities of Architecture and Construction in Hanoi. It provides training for international cooperation projects: some 60 persons were given training under a contract signed with the Danish International Cooperation Agency (DANIDA). In the interests of further developing the CNEE, the final project evaluation recommended that a consortium be established to sell training programs

to funding agencies working in Vietnam. Such a partnership would include an international standard assessment agency, a Vietnamese design engineering office and the CNEE.

For more information: Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, Program Officer, SCAC Email: [email protected]

Project for a Pilot Urban Rail Transit Line from Nhon to Hanoi Station On January 12, 2006, the Prime Minister of Vietnam approved the project to build a pilot urban rail transit line in Hanoi based on a tube railway-type technology (trains 80 meters long and 2.8 meters wide) between Nhon and Hanoi Station. This line of about 12.5 kilometers in length will be constructed on a 9.6 kilometer viaduct, while the segment going into the center of the capital will be put underground. This line is fully in keeping with the Hanoi urban transit development scheme.France began providing financial support in 2004, contributing to the completion of environmental, economic and social studies as well as to the feasibility studies that received funding through the French Fund for the Global Environment (Fonds Français pour l’Environnement Mondial – FFEM) and the General Directorate of the Treasury and Economic Policy (Direction générale du Trésor et de la Politique économique – DGTPE) respectively.

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Since then, France’s financial commitment for this project has been confirmed with € 280 million being made available, broken down as follows: € 200 M from the DGTPE dedicated to funding engineering operations and electromechanical equipment and € 80 million from the AFD assigned to cover the civil engineering work and stations for the underground segment. This package accounts for approximately three fifths of the total project amount approved by the Prime Minister of Vietnam. The Hanoi People’s Committee is directly in charge of implementing this major project. It is expected that the comprehensive studies could get underway this summer.

For more information: Sylvain Biard,Trade Attaché, Hanoi Economic Mission Email: [email protected]

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Rail Transportation: A Key Pillar in French Cooperation in Vietnam A number of projects in the rail transportation sector in Vietnam have received French official development assistance, a move which has also enabled French industrialists to get a firm position on the local market. First, France worked out an agreement with the Vietnamese authorities to undertake the complete renovation of the existing line from Hanoi to Vinh. Two projects funded by the DGTPE (Direction Générale du Trésor et de la Politique Économique) are already underway on this stretch of railway: modernization of the rail signaling and telecommunications system, with a price tag of € 50 million for two phases,and the provision of rail maintenance equipment worth € 9 million. More recently, France confirmed a financial support package of € 63 million for the project to upgrade and rehabilitate the rail line linking Yen Vien (north of Hanoi) and Lao Cai,a town at the Chinese border.This project with the main objective of making this 283 kilometer line safe and increase its capacity is part of the Asian Development Bank’s Greater Mekong Subregion program (ADB GMS). More concretely, it is part of the transportation corridor project between the Chinese province of Yunnan and

Hai Phong.This latter port is closer to Kunming than any other maritime gateway in China. This project marks an important step in France’s economic cooperation in Vietnam because it is the first one to benefit from joint co-funding from the ABD for US$ 60 million, the AFD for € 32 million and the DGTPE for € 31 million. Vietnam Railways Corporation (VNR) also received concessionary funding from France for two other major projects that have now been finalized: € 6.7 million for modernization of the locomotive maintenance shops and € 13.3 million for rehabilitation of four railway tunnels through the Cloud Pass. France has also expressed its agreement in principle to fund the emblematic Long Bien Bridge renovation project for an amount of € 60 million, including € 40 million from the AFD and € 20 million from the DGTPE.

For more information: Sylvain Biard,Trade Attaché, Hanoi Economic Mission Email: [email protected]

Two Projects Marking the AFD’s First Involvement in the Transportation Sector: Hanoi Metro and Hanoi-Lao Cai Railway 2006 saw the fleshing out of the AFD’S first two projects involving the transportation sector, one of the cooperation priorities spelled out in the Partnership Framework Document. The first provision is a contribution of € 80 million toward funding Hanoi’s pilot urban rail line to be built between Nhon and Hanoi Station.This will be Hanoi’s first metro line and the “first stone” for the future

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mass transit network as described in the capital’s new master plan now being finalized. It is one of the government’s priority projects for the millennium for the city of Hanoi.The western section along National Highway 32 will be elevated and then it will go underground as it approaches Hanoi Station. This project will introduce a very much anticipated jump in terms of public transit capacity and organization in Hanoi. The 12.5-kilometer line follows a very high

density traffic corridor. Once commissioned, it will handle 124,000 travelers a day in tandem with the bus network. The project will also contribute directly to Vietnam’s environmental objectives by reducing local pollution,greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. The supervisory authority will be the Hanoi People’s Committee, which has in turn entrusted project implementation to the Hanoi Authority for Tram and Public Transport Development. The AFD loan will help finance line infrastructure. Equipment will benefit from a further € 200-million loan from the French Ministry of Finance from its Emerging Nations Reserve Fund.The AFD also approved a grant of € 500,000 for capacity building activities. The second envelope for € 32 million will support the project to rehabilitate and upgrade the Yen Vien-Lao Cai rail line. The focus of the project is to repair, increase capacity and improve safety conditions on the 283 kilometers of this strategic axis linking Hanoi to the Chinese border by 20112012. The dimension of the support for regional

integration inherent in this project is noteworthy as it will contribute to boost the economy and tourism development in the northern provinces of Vietnam as well as bolster the rail network in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) since the line is part of the ASEAN Singapore-Kunming through connection. The overall operation is expected to cost US$ 160 million. It is being co funded by the Asian Development Bank (US$ 60 million) and by an ODA funding package from the French Ministry of Economy and Finance (€ 31 million for equipment) and by the government of Vietnam. The AFD will contribute a further € 600,000 in the form of grant technical assistance to facilitate rail transport to the border point with Lao Cai and modernize financial management of Vietnam Railways in the framework of Vietnam’s new railway law.

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.afd.fr

Agriculture and Food Security Support for the Phu Tho Tea Industry Phu Tho province by putting in 3,000 hectares of new plantation with more productive tea varieties along with the densification of 2,500 hectares of existing plantation. As a complement to the agriculture component, the project includes the upgrading of 115 kilometers of rural trails which will help improve the quality of the tea leaves hauled to processing plants. Plans also call for associated measures to provide farmer training and production quality control. The project will contribute to economic development and improvement of living conditions for over 15,000 households in the 8 districts of Thanh Son, Thanh Ba, Ha Hoa, Thanh Thuy,Doan Hung,Yen Lap,Phu Ninh and Cam Khe in Pho Tho province and enable: This project under AFD funding is intended to promote development of village tea production in

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• Increased local tea production by the planting of new varieties and intensification of existing fields

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under cultivation. • Improved infrastructure through rural road mending. • Better quality agricultural production by taking appropriate measures and giving training on pesticide use. For more information: Email: [email protected] www.adf.fr

Rural Infrastructure in Ninh Thuan This project under AFD funding has the following objectives: • Improve the potential of production-related infrastructure by putting in and/or rehabilitating water retaining reservoirs and irrigation systems. • Structure and develop nearly 2,500 hectares of irrigated area. • Offer coaching to promote a move from mountain rain-fed agriculture to more intensive irrigation-fed agriculture. • Set up a sustainable management,operation and maintenance system for infrastructure at the provincial level. The project has two components: • Construction and rehabilitation of five water and agriculture construction works to give added value to the province’s water resources;

• Support management capacity-building among users, promote the establishment and training of users’groups and agricultural experimentation. Implementation of this project is slated for the 20062010 period and will help improve living conditions for some 9,000 people in the three districts of Bac Ai, Ninh Son and Ninh Phuoc in Ninh Thuan province, which is affected by very unfavorable weather conditions and a high level of poverty.

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.adf.fr

Exporting Vegetable and Fruit Produce From the Da Lat Region (PRCC) This project supported by the Trade Capacity-Building Fund (Fonds de renforcement des capacités commerciales – PRCC) and jointly implemented by the Hanoi Economic Mission and the AFD is intended to promote the export of vegetable and fruit produce from the Da Lat region.

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The project has three main components: • Studies to assess the needs and potential of the fruit and vegetable production chain as well as the expectations of export markets.These studies

now being finalized are providing valuable input that may help other provinces or producer associations who would like to export in the Asia zone. • A provision of support to industry stakeholders and production factors in order to strengthen the role of the Lam Dong Farmers’Association, set up experimental plots and introduce a quality approach as well as an information and sales support system. The experimental plots have been completed and the results of the studies will

make it possible to determine the types of fruit and vegetables to be grown on them. • Project facilitation, management and monitoring built upon the background work, which will include seminars and study trips to Europe and Asia.

number of trade and socio-economic issues by improving the competitiveness of the chain and improvement of farmer incomes.

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.adf.fr

This project for trade capacity building in the Da Lat area fruit and vegetable chain is addressing a

Support for the Framing of Agriculture Policies: MISPA Project

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In its provision of support to institutions, French cooperation is funding a project with the Institute of Policy and Strategy in Agriculture and Rural Development (IPSARD). The title of the project is Mobilization of Information to Serve Agriculture Policy (Mobilisation de l’information au service des politiques agricoles – MISPA) and its purpose is to build the capacity of this institute to generate and analyze scientific information on agriculture and rural development and thereby provide decisionmakers with the data they need to make choices in terms of public policy. Such support is of particular importance in a context wherein the government of Vietnam is attempting to gradually distance itself from the role of planner strictly speaking and to develop its regulatory capacities. Since the country is still strongly rural (70 percent of the population) and agriculture occupies a major place in the economy (20 percent of the GDP and one third of export earnings), government decisions in the area of rural development must be based on quality information.

This project has a time frame of four years (20022006) and has a price tag of € 1.5 million provided through the Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP) administered by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It hinges on three components: -

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Capacity-building (training sessions, study tours, expertise) in organizational terms, scientific terms (tools, methods) and communication. Preparing studies and setting up working groups. Studies done by the institute or other Vietnamese partners involve topics directly linked to the concerns of policy-makers. Furthermore, three task forces are studying competitiveness in the agriculture industry, rural development and the coffee industry. Project management (steering committee, communication, audits, evaluation).

The project is anticipated ultimately to achieve the following results: assistance provided to restructure

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IPSARD, improved staff scientific capacities, some 18 studies conducted and workshops held to discuss the conclusions thereof, three working groups established to provide regular input, as well as local and international expertise networks set up around IPSARD. The working groups have been set up as departments (except for the coffee group) within the institute. IPSARD’s role as a venue for the production

of information to facilitate decision-making will likewise have been reinforced.

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.adf.fr

SUSPER Project The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs funded a cross-region agriculture project entitled “Sustainable Development of Peri-urban Agriculture in Southeast Asia” (SUSPER) over a four-year period (January 2002 to July 2006). This project worked in four cities - Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Vientiane (Laos) - and brought several local and international stakeholders into association: the Center for International Cooperation in Agriculture Research for Development (Centre International de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - CIRAD), the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center (AVRDC), the Hanoi Fruit and Vegetable Research Institute, the University of Thu Duc, the Agriculture Department of the Laotian Ministry of Agriculture and the Department of Agro-industry under the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture. The project has increased cooperation between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and highlighted the dynamics of the vegetable trade in the region. In the three countries, the project has highlighted the transfer of research and intervention methods by means of workshops and publications. This is a guarantee of sustainability for most of the initiatives that were undertaken. The market analysis skills of senior management staff in the research institutes and in government departments have been strengthened. SUSPER’s goal was to develop the skills of private and public agents working in the field of peri-urban agriculture to ensure a sustainable food supply. It helped the target cities to better respond to the local demand for vegetables. The strong consumer demand for vegetables indicated to be safe was demonstrated and conveyed to groups of producers.

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Currently, peri-urban market-gardening zones are supplying high-end stores and supermarkets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. When the concluding seminar was held on June 27, 2006,Vietnamese fruit and vegetable producing co ops and companies were able to pick up very valuable information on consumer needs thanks to the presentations that were given. The research findings on product flows on the market also made available quantified data regarding the role of peri-urban zones in terms of fresh produce supplies for city dwellers, especially leafy vegetables. These findings were of special interest to officials in charge of urban planning in both Hanoi and Phnom Penh (Municipal Urban Affairs Office). Technical solutions including off-season planting of grafted tomatoes, growing vegetables under tunnel shelters and raising fish in floating cages were found to meet market demands and increase farmer incomes. For example, in Hanoi, one of the greatest success stories of the project is off-season grafted tomato growing. With the assistance of the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center, farmers in Dong Anh and Gia Lam districts were able to increase their income considerably (over VND 66 million per hectare). New procedures for labeling and certifying the health quality of vegetables were also tested. An inexpensive system of daily price information collection and dissemination was developed to facilitate producer negotiations with sellers. The SUSPER project has established the following follow-up initiatives in Vietnam:

• The Data Processing and Statistics Center (ICARD) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will continue publishing daily price information (with possible support from the ADB). • Initiatives regarding produce labeling and certification will be continued at Hoai Duc (Ha Tay province) in the framework of the PCP MALICA (Markets and Agriculture Linkages for Cities in Asia) that is a coalition of CIRAD, the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture Science (VAAS) and the Institute on Policy and Strategies on Agriculture

and Rural Development (IPSARD), in cooperation with the ADB/DFID project “Making Markets Work Better for the Poor.”They are funded by the PCP MALICA and the Ha Tay Provincial People’s Committee.

For more information: Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, Program Officer, SCAC Email: [email protected]

Agriculture Health Policy The foundation for cooperation in the area of animal health was laid in April 2004 in Hanoi when negotiations took place between representatives of the Food Directorate (Direction générale de l’alimentation – DGAL) under the French Ministry of Agriculture and their Vietnamese counterparts at both the Department of Animal Health (DAH) under the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Fisheries Quality Assurance and Veterinary Directorate (NAFIQAVED) under the Ministry of Fisheries (MOFI). A memorandum of understanding between France and Vietnam in the field of veterinary medicine was initialed and then signed during President Chirac’s visit to Vietnam in October 2004. At the same time,a cooperation agreement for the control of marine animal diseases, also negotiated in April 2004, was inked in June of the same year in Paris.

1. DAH This agency has requested support from France in the two priority areas of disease diagnosis as well as the design and implementation of emergency plans. A broader analytical thinking process on the organization and operation of veterinary services in Vietnam will also be conducted,and will include such things as an improved articulation between the central departments, provincial departments and animal farmers. In June 2004, the DAH director and his associates shared in a health mission in France, while in December 2005, two DAH experts (directors of regional veterinary centers) attended a one-week workshop in France in which they studied the French mechanism for epizooty control and health crisis management.

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2. NAFIQAVED Fisheries and aquaculture products are the backbone of Vietnam’s exports. A priority goal that French expertise is in a position to help Vietnam achieve is making sure that they comply with international health standards,particularly those of Europe.French support is primarily being directed to the rational use of inputs, health regulations and the official control mechanism. In October 2004, two laboratory specialists from the NAFIQAVED attended a training course at the Nantes National Veterinary School. In December 2004, a specialist in veterinary medicine from AFSSA (Agence française de sécurité sanitaire des aliments / French Food Health Security Agency) in his capacity as chief inspector of veterinary public health, spent two weeks in Vietnam to get the cooperation component concerning the use and control of medications up and running. And in December 2005, two NAFIQAVED experts specializing in veterinary products in the field of aquaculture and laboratory management attended a course in France on the subject of aquaculture medicine. From February 7 to 9, 2007, a DGAL delegation traveled to southern Vietnam on a mission organized by NAFIQAVED. Its purpose was to check on the progress made by the Vietnamese aquaculture industry in the area of quality control (veterinary medication control and organization of health control in aquaculture),as well as the development of initiatives to be undertaken in 2007 and beyond.

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In 2007 and 2008, the French-Vietnam bilateral cooperation program will be continued by means of an expert exchange program between the DGAL, party of the first part, and DAH and NAFIQAVED, parties of the second part.

For more information: Béatrice Tauziède,Trade Attaché, Hanoi Economic Mission Email: [email protected]

Agriculture and Rural Development Projects under Decentralized Cooperation French NGO Activities and Decentralized Cooperation in Vietnam in 2006 Rounding out what the conventional institutional stakeholders are doing, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and decentralized cooperation arrangements led by regions or territorial communities in France are playing a major role in the rural sector.

I.The following NGOs are working in rural development: 1) Research and Technological Exchange Group (Groupe de Recherche et d’Échanges Technologiques -GRET) GRET has been present in Vietnam since 1988 and hinges its activities on two programs: the Red River program and the program to support the local production of cereal meal for infant feeding and nutritional education (Appui à la production locale de farines infantiles et d’éducation nutritionnelle – FASEVIE). GRET has expanded its activities as a

consultant or operator in projects funded by multilateral donors, including the European Commission in two northern provinces (Bac Can and Cao Bang) and the Asian Development Bank in one central province (Kon Tum).

For more information: [email protected]

GRET ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM Title

Content

Red River Program

Research,development and training program focusing on improving agriculture technologies,sharing innovations, structuring agriculture commodity chains and farmer associations Improve services for rural communities and cooperation in the areas of primary health, agriculture and animal husbandry based on the promotion of local and professional organizations

Institutional Development and Local Associations for the Organization and Management of Group Services DIALOGS

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Duration Co-sponsors Partners

Locations GRET Budget

Nov. 2000- European Oct. 2005 Commission

Hai Duong, Bac Ninh, Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen

Capitalization phase from Jan. to June 2006

Vietnamese Agricultural Sciences Institute – VASI, Hanoi Medical University, Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World), AFDI,VECO

€ 1.1 million

Title

Content

Duration Co-sponsors Partners

Locations GRET Budget

Research Project on Agricultural Dynamics in Zones Subject to Urban Influence in Southeast Asia RURBASIE Bamboo Development Project

Analyze the impact of urban sprawl on agriculture around the secondary cities of Vinh Phuc and Hai Duong

Oct. 2002- European Apr. 2007 Union – INCO

VASI, INRA, UCL, FaFo, CEDAC

Hai Duong, € 0.97 Vinh Phuc million

Help smallholder bamboo producers in Thanh Hoa to get organized to increase their earnings from the market while meeting its quality and traceability requirements Support for local planning, organizational capacity building of Montagnard villages and training of commune facilitators.Project conducted in consortium with BCEOM

Feb. 2005- IFC, ADB,TBF, Mar. 2007 IKEA Oxfam Hong Kong

IDE

Thanh Hoa € 156,400

Mar. 2006- European Dec. 2010 Union

DPI/MPI MARD

Bac Kan

€ 719,000

National Institute of Nutrition - NIN, Research Institute for Development (Institut de recherche pour le développemt – IRD), VASI,Women’s League Capacity-Building Center (Vietnamese NGO), DPI and line departments, associations in Kon Tum

Ha Tinh, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Bac Kan

€ 0.583 million

Initiative to promote development of poor northern mountain communities (IPPDNU) FASEVIE

Program in Vietnam

Central Vietnam Project to support improvement of rural household livelihoods in Kon Tum province

Support for the local production of cereal meal for infant feeding and nutritional education Extension and self-sufficiency Jan. 2004- EU, MAE, phase Dec. 2007 UNICEF, Coop. Nord-Pas de Calais, Sight and Life

Promotion of local development activity focusing on poverty alleviation and improvement of living conditions

Sept. 2005- Asian Dec. 2007 Development Bank – ADB

2) Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders (Agronomes et Vétérinaires sans frontières – AVSF) With its permanent presence and expertise in animal health and production, AVSF is playing a confirmed role as a source of information and expertise that many other operators draw upon. Starting in January 2006, this NGO has been developing a new holistic strategy co funded by the MAE via a global capacity building program for farmer organizations and support for rural development. Its focus is the development of small

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Kon Tum

animal husbandry aiming at poverty alleviation, the enhancing of veterinary services and bird flu prevention. In early 2007, AVSF was selected by the group of international non-governmental organizations present in Vietnam (about 500 NGOs) to represent them at a level of dialogue established between the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and the international donor community, the International Support Group (ISG). The ISG is made up of 11 funding agencies, 10 MARD departments, the Agriculture Economics Department of the Ministry

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of Planning and Investment and the External Finance Department of the Ministry of Finance.

For more information: [email protected]

AVSF ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM Project name

Content

Funding agencies Avian influenza Support veterinary and paraVarious, veterinary services to prevent this including owndisease through training, source funds development of reference documents, organizing studies and exchanges Analysis of FAO Carry out a study on the experiments on development of dairy animal the develophusbandry in Vietnam ment of dairy production

Livestock working group

Coaching an information exchange group for the animal sector

Project for the development of animal husbandry to reduce poverty in the northern mountain regions

Strengthen support services for animal husbandry from establishing directions to technical and economic performance assessments of animal holdings.

Animal Health and Husbandry Development in Thai Nguyen Province

Agrifood International – own-source funds Swiss Cooperation Private funding agencies

Private donors Sustainable development of animal husbandry, enhancing the quality of animal health services by helping to more clearly identify the potential for animal husbandry, forming farmer groups.

3) Viêt Nam Plus Viêt Nam Plus is an association established in 1994 to promote community development in Bình Thuân province. This NGO works in the rural credit sector (over 6,000 women have been organized into savings and credit groups), health (training and prevention), education and agriculture extension (exchanges with agronomists on agriculture technology, veterinary training, farmer groups).

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Partners

Locations

Veterinary Department of National Vietnam; FAO; Academy for Educational Development; French Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Pfizer Animal Health Group; Helvetas; etc. National National Animal Husbandry Institute and Department of Agriculture (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development); General Council of Côtes d’Armor; FAO; Agrifood Consulting International (ACI). Projects and institutions working National in the animal sector

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Institute of Animal Husbandry, etc.), Departments (provincial) of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD), District People’s Committees, Directorate of Swiss Development and Cooperation (DDC) Provincial People’s Committee; Provincial Department of Agriculture;Women’s League; Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture; Pfizer Animal Health Group

Phu Tho, Son La and Yen Bai

Thai Nguyen

4) CEVEO Association The East-West Veterinary Cooperation and Exchange Association (Coopération et échanges vétérinaires EstOuest – CEVEO) has been present in Vietnam for nearly 10 years now,working primarily in Ho Chi Minh City municipality and Dong Nai province. A Referral Veterinary Center came into being in 2004 in Dong Nai in partnership with the Provincial People’s Committee and the Rhône-Alpes region.The purpose of the center is to provide on-the-job training for

practicing veterinarians. It is also an analysis center for the dairy cow herds.In 2006,the association drew closer ties with AVSF in order to carry out joint initiatives. 5) France has also provided funding assistance for various initiatives handled by a Vietnamese association, the Union of Technologies Applied to Development (UTAD), that has been working since 2003 in the three provinces of Ha Giang, Son La and Thanh Hoa, organizing training sessions for each province on the application of production technologies and processes for clean, high-yield seed potatoes. 6) ACOTEC Association The Association for Technical and Cultural

Cooperation (Association pour les Coopérations Techniques et Culturelles – ACOTEC) and the FranceVietnam Friendship Association (Association d’Amitié Franco-Vietnamienne – AAFV) are working in partnership with local Vietnamese chapters of the Red Cross in villages throughout many provinces, assisting agent orange victims to establish small herds of cattle, goats or pigs. 7) The Institute of Ecological Economics, a Vietnamese entity, received a funding package from France in 2006 for a project to create a model ecological village in an area of bare hills in a commune of Thua Thien-Hue province. The beneficiaries of this project include some 50 poor farmer families.

II. Decentralized cooperation in the rural sector includes the following: 1) The Nord-Pas de Calais region has been working since 1993 in a multi-form cooperation program in three provinces of Central Vietnam (Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and Da Nang). The region has been involved since 1994 in six priority sectors: improvement of the urban environment, public health,preservation of the natural environment,rural development, economic development and francophony. In June 2005, operational implementation agreements for decentralized cooperation were signed with the three central provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and Da Nang in order to firm up the partnership arrangement. In 2006, however, the region decided to permanently end its partnership with the three provinces as of July 2007. For more information: [email protected]

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2) The Aquitaine region has been involved for several years now in cooperation projects with Vietnam. A new partnership arrangement came into being in 2006 with Quang Ninh province (in northeastern Vietnam). The result was a draft project to provide support for the designing development schemes in Quang Ninh province.The project involves framing a sustainable development master plan for one of the districts in the province and the formulation of an environmental management scheme for Ha Long Bay. The purpose of the project is to promote high-

potential economic and tourism development activities, although it has not yet gotten up and running. 3) The Midi-Pyrénées region has been working in a decentralized cooperation arrangement with Son La province since December 2003. In partnership with the Southwest Association for International Agriculture Development (Association Sud Ouest pour le Développement International Agricole – ASODIA), the region is implementing a project for the improvement of agriculture and agri food industry products, notably in the milk industry with the Son La Dairy Company and more recently the production of plum wine with the Fruit Growers’ Co op. The region would also like to develop access to credit for farmers in Moc Chau district on the basis of mid-term loans from the Regional Fund for International Cooperative Development. 4)The Rhône-Alpes region has been working in Dong Nai province since 1999. This cooperation has led to exchanges between the Thu Duc Veterinary Faculty and the National Veterinary School of Lyon. The region has also been supporting a scientific exchange program in this same province for several years now on the theme of tropical forest preservation, notably the Than Phu forest, led by the University of Lyon I in partnership with the University of Natural Sciences in HCMC (management and conservation of biodiversity, reconstitution of forest land, development of educational tourism, training of technicians, researchers and engineers).

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5) In May 2006, the department of Val de Marne signed a cooperation agreement to improve veterinary services and promote animal husbandry

and farmer skills development with the province of Yen Bai (its local partner) and AVSF (who will be its operator).

French Food Aid Counterpart Funds On three occasions France granted food aid packages to Vietnam: 1994, 1997 and 2000. The funds realized from the sale of these aid packages (VND 31.37 billion) are managed jointly by the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance and the French Embassy. The purpose is to fund poverty alleviation and rural development operations in the area of irrigation so as to increase food security in the countryside. Counterpart funds for the year 1994 (VND 10.37 B) were partially spent on building schools and drinking water supply projects.Fifty percent of the funds were earmarked for small-scale fruit processing projects on production sites in disadvantaged northern provinces (Bac Giang, Lang Son, Lao Cai, Son La). Since 1997, five projects have been funded through counterpart funds, for a total amount of VND 17.6 billion. It was mutually agreed to funnel the proceeds from the 2000-2001 food aid package to provinces affected by severe flooding in 1999-2000. - Rehabilitation and construction of hydraulics systems in four mountain communes (Van Ban, Tam Son, Phuong Vi, Dong Cam) in Song Thao district, Phu Tho province. - Upgrading the Lien Son agriculture hydraulics system,Vinh Phuc province. - Rehabilitation of pumping stations and construction of internal canals and sustainable development of agriculture, Ha Tinh province.

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Rehabilitation of the Phu Ninh Lake canals,Quang Nam province. Rehabilitation of dikes and construction of sluice gates in the Ong Muoi-Ba Tra agricultural area in Cai Lay district,Tien Giang province.

In agreement with the Ministry of Finance, plans call for the amount remaining from these assistance packages to fund the three following projects which have been submitted to the Prime Minister of Vietnam for approval: - Reconstruction of the main structure, drainage canal system and pumping stations of Roc San and Doi Lu (Nho Quan district,Ninh Binh province). - Clean water supply for the poor in Trung Don hamlet (Thanh Hai commune, Hai Lang district, Quang Tri province). - Construction and renovation of a rice paddy irrigation system for food security in the two communes of Quang Cong and Quang An (Quang Dien district,Thua Thien-Hue province). In addition to the construction and rehabilitation of farming areas, part of the funding is used to provide technical training for local stakeholders. These projects aim to increase the efficiency of agriculture activities and promote the sustainable development of natural resources.

For more information: Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, Program Officer, SCAC Email: [email protected]

Health and AIDS Prevention AIDS Prevention HIV was late in coming on the scene in Vietnam (early 1990s) and infection was long confined to a marginalized population. As was the case elsewhere in the world, the epidemic then spread to the population at large. Based on UNAIDS estimates, there are now over 280,000 HIV-positive persons in Vietnam, and the virus reportedly caused nearly 14,000 deaths in 2005. The number of new cases of infection is estimated at over 37,000 that same year. Thus,the number of persons living with HIV has more than doubled between 2000 (122,000 persons infected at that time) and 2006. The epidemic was initially concentrated, basically affecting intravenous drug users and prostitutes, but it is now tending to spread outside,with a prevalence exceeding 1 percent among 15- to 49-year-olds in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), Hai Phong and Quang Ninh, with an increase in heterosexual transmission. Nevertheless, intravenous drug users and prostitutes are the most affected groups, with an HIV-infection prevalence of 34 percent and 6.5 percent respectively. During the 2003-2004 period, the annual national budget allocated to AIDS prevention was US$3 million with a US$ 7-million contribution from donors. During the 2005-2006 period, it was upped to US$ 6 million for the national side and US$50 million for donors. The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) alone is providing 60 percent of funds for AIDS prevention in Vietnam. These figures reflect the concern the Vietnamese government feels in the face of this problem and the leadership role in this area played by the United States among the international partners.

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Since 2003, cooperation in the area of AIDS prevention has been in step with the sectorial strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with regard to health and AIDS prevention. With its attention initially directed to programs of the National Agency for AIDS and Hepatitis Research (Agence nationale de recherche sur le sida et les hépatites - ANRS) for research, training and providing laboratory equipment, French cooperation in the realm of HIV/AIDS infection has been enhanced by hospital partnerships (ESTHER program) aimed at promoting improved HIV-

infected patient management. The ANRS and ESTHER programs have pioneered holistic patient care and, starting in 2004, were offering effective antiretroviral treatments along with the necessary appropriate follow-up. 1. National Agency for AIDS and Hepatitis Research (ANRS) The ANRS has been working in cooperation with Vietnam since 1988 (HIV/AIDS workshops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City). The first partnership agreement was signed in 1995 with the Ministry of Health. In 2000, a Southeast Asia site was established in cooperation with the ANRS and the Ministries of Health of Cambodia and Vietnam. A clinical research unit was set up in the Ho Chi Minh City Institut Pasteur in 2001 and a working arrangement was established with the ESTHER program (see below). Research activities in Vietnam mainly involve: - The effectiveness of,tolerance for and compliance with a once-a-day antiretroviral treatment in HIVinfected adults (VIETAR-ANRS 1210 trial). - The potential impact of genetics on proneness to HIV infection or resistance to it (ANRS 12117). Further research is being carried out jointly with the teams in Cambodia: - Research on new diagnostic procedures and management of infectious lung diseases in HIVinfected patients (PneumAsia-ANRS 1260 study). This study is also being carried out on ANRS sites in Africa. - Validation and implementation of simple, inexpensive diagnostic and virological monitoring techniques for HIV infection in adults and children. - Search for cases of antiretroviral resistance in treated patients as well as resistance in patients who have never been previously treated (ANRS 12134). The ANRS site is sharing in the development of the infrastructure needed for the ongoing scientific programs and training of the clinical researchers and biologists involved. Each project is receiving funding from ANRS independently from a specific budget

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from the site and funds necessary to equip the laboratories sharing in the research activities. The activities of the ANRS site in Vietnam are supported by a technical assistant in charge of site coordination recruited by the MFA and working out of HCMC.

Tropical Diseases and the Center for Preventive Medicine. A third partnership site was put in place in Hai Phong in September 2004: the twinning of the Viet Tiep Hospital in Hai Phong with the Toulouse University Hospital Center.

2. ESTHER program 2003 saw the actual launching of the program known by its French acronym ESTHER (Ensemble pour une Solidarité Thérapeutique Hospitalière en Réseau / Together for Networked Hospital Treatment Solidarity) in Vietnam,based on a ministerial agreement signed in October 2002.

The ESTHER projects were started up quickly, which made it possible to follow the Vietnamese government’s marked change in attitude towards a more honest acknowledgment of the epidemic and an increased willingness to provide care for persons living with AIDS. These programs were developed in synergy with research being conducted by the ANRS. These activities received assistance from an IRD researcher specializing in social sciences, more specifically the knowledge and behavior patterns relating to the AIDS risk.The future challenge will be to develop a network ensuring a continuum of care to promote the holistic management of patients and to put in place organized and equitable access to specific treatments (supply and prescription of ARVs).

The project goals are to strengthen the human and physical resources needed for patient management in local facilities and make it easier to get antiretroviral (ARV) treatment with, on the horizon, articulation of these activities with those being developed by the Vietnamese government and other cooperation players. The hospital partnerships include such activities as: - Training of medical personnel and biologists; - Equipping laboratories and departments; - Putting in place support structures and psychosocial activities for patients; - Organizing the provision of specific treatments; - Managing and monitoring patients on antiretroviral treatments. Five hospital partnership projects have gotten underway on three sites:Ho Chi Minh City,Hanoi and Hai Phong. In Hanoi, there are hospital partnership agreements with the Dong Da Hospital and the Versailles Hospital Center, as well as the Saint-Paul Hospital and the Limoges University Medical Center. In Ho Chi Minh City, a parallel process has been developed with the Georges Pompidou European Hospital Center and the Bordeaux University Hospital Center, in partnership with the Hospital for

Since late 2004, the ESTHER program has been coordinated by a program officer under funding assistance from the French MAE. A psychologist acting as the focal point for the psycho-social support activities rounds out the team that also includes a Vietnamese doctor whose salary is cared for by the program in Ho Chi Minh City. Expenses for the GIP ESTHER in Vietnam tally up to a total outlay of approximately € 2.5 million for a project duration in the neighborhood of three years.

For more information: Dr.Jean-Jacques Bernatas,Cooperation Attaché,SCAC Email: [email protected]

Medico-social and Primary Health Care Projects Medico-social and primary health care projects are one of the principal areas in which a major cooperation initiative has been developed through the efforts of thirty or so French associations working in the medico-social sector in Vietnam.These projects are consistent with the Millennium Development Goals and are contributing to the policies for poverty

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alleviation and elimination of social inequality advocated by the Vietnamese government. Many projects have been receiving support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs for over ten years now (MAAIONG – Mission d’Appui à l’Action Internationale des Organisations Non Gouvernementales /

Support Mission for International Initiatives of Nongovernmental Organizations; FSD – Fonds social de développement / Social Fund for Development).

The SAMU Social International Association has designed a project to care for homeless migrant populations in Ho Chi Minh City.

The issue of care for children with problems is the focus of a number of associations in Vietnam.The NT Foundation (research in child psychology) is working on the legal aspects of child welfare in cooperation with the French-Vietnamese association NT PSY, the Child Welfare Commission and other institutions. L’APPEL Association (along with L’APPEL Lorient) has been working for many years in the fields of pediatrics and neonatology.

Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) is working in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to care for AIDSinfected patients.

A training program in child psychology (supported by the Agence universitaire de la francophonie / Francophony University Agency) put in place by the Toulouse II and Montpellier III Universities with the support of the Midi-Pyrénées General Council and the ADEPASE Association with the Hanoi National University, laid the groundwork for the profession of clinical psychologist in Vietnam with the first class graduating in October 2002. The AFESIP Association (Aide aux femmes en situation précaire / Acting for Women in Distressing Situations) is working essentially in Vietnam and Cambodia in the area of preventing trafficking in women and children and getting them back into their home country.

Other organizations lending their support are: ADEP (Association d’entraide des polios et handicapés / Selfhelp Association for Polio Victims and Disabled Persons), ADCV (Association for the Development of Surgery in Vietnam),in cooperation with the Limoges University Medical Center, FASEVIE (GRET project for the support of nutrition in school on the basis of a nutritional study conducted by the IRD). In 2006, the amount of funding provided by MAAIONG to the health sector in Vietnam amounted to € 317,953.61, with the beneficiaries being L’APPEL, the French Red Cross, GRET and Gynécologie sans frontières (Gynecology Without Borders). The SCAC spent a total of € 21,360 for L’APPEL, Rizières (Rice Fields) and the FASEVIE project.

For more information: Dr.Jean-Jacques Bernatas,Cooperation Attaché,SCAC Email: [email protected]

Hospital Partnerships The hospital system is now benefiting from a vast rehabilitation program thanks to support from international cooperation as well as from investments made by the Ministry of Health and municipalities (People’s Committees). Based on health cooperation initiatives structured by the MAE focusing on Vietnam, a close link has been woven among Vietnamese and French health professionals over the past decades. Many doctors who received specialty training in France have been entrusted with department leadership responsibilities and have worked in a continuum of the relationship already established through FrenchVietnamese hospital partnerships. Hospitals have twinned up for the furtherance of this hospital cooperation supported by the French Ministry of

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Foreign Affairs (MAE) which is contributing to the improvement of the care environment by means of refresher training, renovation initiatives, equipment upgrading, hygiene and asepsis, training of supervisory staff in charge of nursing and paramedics as well as in the area of hospital management. Currently, some twenty different hospital partnerships are operating throughout the country, nine of which are supported by the MAE. Furthermore, exchanges have taken place in the area of high technology that have been pursued by technical assistance missions (Paris and Toulouse) for pediatric kidney transplants and assistance for drafting a law on organ and tissue collection and transplants (two missions by the Agence de la Biomédecine / Biomedicine Agency, one of which

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involved the Établissement Français du Sang – EFS – in Besançon, the EFS being France’s leading operator in the field of blood transfusion). And in the area of cardiac surgery, a full team of four from the Hanoi. Cardiology Hospital was hosted in France for a fourmonth training period at the Clermont-Ferrand University Medical Center. It received training in

open-heart surgery on babies weighing less than 10 kilgrams. For more information: Dr.Jean-Jacques Bernatas,Cooperation Attaché,SCAC Email: [email protected]

The Institut Pasteur Since May 2005, the Institut Pasteur has had a researcher stationed in Hanoi who is also responsible for facilitating the Coordination Office of the Institut Pasteur network in the region. In a context wherein communicable diseases are emerging (SARS, avian influenza, etc.), establishment of this position was most timely to meet the needs expressed by Vietnamese researchers in the local network of Pasteur institutes (Hanoi, Nha Trang and HCMC), centering on research capacity-building and researcher training. In the area of research: - The RESPARI Project,“Research-driven Response to Acute Respiratory Infections,”is being conducted in cooperation with the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE) in Hanoi, the Instituts Pasteur in HCMC and Nha Trang as well as the other IPs in the region (IP- Cambodia, Pasteur Center-Hong Kong University, IP-Shanghai, IP-Korea and IPNew Caledonia). The main target is acute respiratory infections (ARIs): (i) diagnosing and monitoring the viral and bacterial agents responsible for respiratory infections in adults and children; (ii) epidemiology of ARIs; (iii) immunology, physiopathology and vaccine research; and (iv) development of new tools for diagnosis based on state-of-the-art techniques developed at the Hong Kong University Pasteur Research Center, IP-Shanghai and IP-Korea. A project in partnership with the AFD for the Surveillance and Investigation of Epidemics in Southeast Asia (Surveillance et investigation épidémique en Asie du Sud-Est – SISEA) is now being prepared. This project has a budget exceeding € 6 M for a period of four years and will provide support for the RESPARI project which it complements with regard to all of its non-research activities. - A study of the natural history of the circulation of the AI (H5N1) virus has been undertaken in cooperation with the NIHE, IP-HCMC and IP-Nha Trang as well as other IPs in the region (IP-Cambodia and the Laotian Ministry of Health). The goals are to gain insight into the circulation patterns of the virus responsible for avian influenza and its survival in nature, in poultry as well as in humans. The results will be of value in providing a detailed knowledge of the natural history of the H5N1 virus, the existence of cases of benign infection in humans or ‘wholesome carriage’as well as risk factors. - A study is also underway to identify the agent causing a severely acute, unknown encephalitis that has been developing for a few years in the form of small epidemics striking children in northern Vietnam (collaboration between the NIHE and IP-Paris). Such epidemics that are surfacing in the Bac Giang region where lychee fruit is extensively grown could have a strong economic impact on the production zone in addition to the human cost. Analysis techniques for the viral genome are now being applied in order to describe it, and epidemiological studies are endeavoring to understand the natural history of the virus, how it infects its victims, as well as the existence of a reservoir. In the area of training: - IP-Shanghai conducted a one-week training session for researchers in the Asia Pacific Network on the theory and practice of biosafety.The session was attended by six Vietnamese students. - Two researchers from the NIHE specializing in virology attended training sessions at the Institut Pasteur-Paris and the Jacques Monod Institute (Paris VI). - Courses were held as follows:(1) molecular genetics of the ARN virus in 2006 at the NIHE;(2) a course in rabies diagnosis at the IP-HCMC in March 2007 and (3) electronic microscopy at the NIHE in 2006.Transmission electron microscopy is a tool needed for identification of new emerging viruses. The NIHE is the only institute in Vietnam to have this technology in an operational form and the project has been designed to expand the technology to the other Pasteur

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institutes in Vietnam, to the one in Phnom Penh as well as to Laos. Upgrading of two laboratories for training in biochemistry and microbiology was provided with exceptional funding allocated to the IP-Ho Chi Minh City and NIHE amounting to € 250,000 to each of these institutions. This funding package was granted in the wake of a visit made in November 2005 by Xavier Bertrand,Minister of Health.His visit was part of a process of evaluating the means made available by France to share in the fight against avian influenza in For more information: Vietnam. Dr.Jean-Jacques Bernatas,Cooperation Attaché,SCAC Email: [email protected]

Avian Influenza and Emerging Diseases Vietnam was hard hit by the avian influenza epidemic back in 2003 with the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus jumping to man. To date, Vietnam remains the country with the largest aggregate number of human cases (92, of which 42 resulted in death). However,in the wake of drastic measures to fight the bird flu epidemic that were taken swiftly and strictly enforced, the country has had no cases of human infection since November 2005. An effective international partnership and successful coordination by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture are behind those good results. The mechanism provided by France to support avian influenza prevention focuses firstly on the “animal” component in controlling the epidemic, with two technical assistant positions being staffed with MAE funding, one with the NGO ASVF (Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières / Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders) and the other with the FAO. The “human” component of prevention is based on support to the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology in the amount of € 2 million,

through the Institut Pasteur. This support has an essentially regional dimension through the network of Instituts Pasteur in Southeast Asia. Furthermore, Vietnam is among the countries benefiting from the developmental FSP called GRIPAVI,which is to provide support to the PRISE pole, a partnership between CIRAD, the National Institute of Animal Husbandry (NIAH), the National Institute of Veterinary Research (NIVR) and the Hanoi University of Agriculture. The “Alliance for Development”private interest group provides a component for Vietnam in its dengue fever prevention project.This project entitled “Communitybased Biological Dengue Vector Control,” is being implemented by the Institut Pasteur through a cofunding arrangement that links VEOLIA, SANOFI, the Institut Pasteur and the MAE.

For more information: Dr.Jean-Jacques Bernatas,Cooperation Attaché,SCAC Email: [email protected]

Avian Influenza Prevention - AVSF

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As for avian influenza prevention, the association Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (AVSF / Agronomists and Veterinarians Without Borders) is one of the largest permanent technical teams present in Vietnam and it has been officially accredited by the Vietnamese authorities. AVSF began its involvement with the avian influenza problem in 2004 when it recommended organizational strengthening and capacity-building for

peripheral veterinary services (provided by civil servants and private para-veterinary workers) to improve detection of infected flocks and the implementation of appropriate control measures. Since then, AVSF has been a key operator for the AFD, WB, USAID and FAO with regard to plans for assessment of the epidemiological situation, description of the poultry industry, the socioeconomic impact of the epizooty, the production and

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dissemination of reference manuals and outreach to most of the provinces in Vietnam, etc.This has led to the publication of three authoritative guidebooks by AVSF (in Vietnamese for veterinary and para-veterinary workers) on the prevention and control of avian influenza in small holdings in Vietnam and other countries of the region, along with a guidebook on epidemiological investigation and a guidebook on avian influenza diagnosis. AVSF is the founder and key facilitator of the network of national and international experts (Vietnam Livestock Working Group), which promotes information exchanges in the animal husbandry sector. The AVSF team was reinforced from late 2005 to late 2006 with the presence of an international volunteer under Ministry of Foreign Affairs funding assistance, acting as a veterinary technical assistant, along with

an Australian specialist in information systems. This means that in addition to a team of 10 persons working for the sustainable development of smallscale animal husbandry in mountainous regions, a skills pool for “veterinary services/avian influenza” made up of 10 additional persons including 6 Vietnamese veterinarians was established to provide specific support to veterinary services in 14 provinces as of 2006 (funding from the WB,Japan,Switzerland, France, the US, the ADB as well as from private funding agencies). Starting in 2006, this pole has been extended to Cambodia and Laos.

For more information: Patrice Gautier, Coordinator Email: [email protected]

Malaria Prevention Based on a cooperation arrangement set up between the Vietnamese and French Departments of Army Health and with the support of the Hanoi Military Mission,a medico-scientific operation involving malaria experts from both countries was conducted from October 31 to December 10 in Binh Phuoc province,Bom Bo commune (center-south,near the Cambodian border).The objective was to assess the impact of malaria in this high-risk area. A mobile laboratory developed by the Marseille Institute of Tropical Medicine, Army Health Department (Institut de Médecine Tropicale du Service de Santé des Armées – IMTSSA, Le Pharo) was deployed in a local dispensary.With the help of the South Medicine Center, it provided biological assistance for the diagnosis of malaria and the culturing of the parasite to test its level of resistance to medication. At the conclusion of this field mission, the scientific work was continued in laboratories of the IMTSSA in Marseille, Center for Analysis and Research on Military Medication and Military Institute of Hygiene and Military Epidemiology in Hanoi.The results will enable the parasite’s level of resistance to treatment to be assessed and the prescription of medication to be adjusted. All of these results will contribute to the prevention of this disease that is responsible for the death of For more information: tens of thousands of persons worldwide each year.The success of Lt-Colonel Yves Rols, this mission is the result of close cooperation between French and Defense Attaché to the Embassy of France in Hanoi Vietnamese military scientists and doctors. Email: [email protected]

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II. France’s Cross-cutting Priorities in Vietnam Elite Training and Scientific Research Major Directions of France’s Training Policy Initiatives undertaken by the French Embassy fit in with one of three cross-cutting programs in the 2006 Partnership Framework Document under the heading of human resources training and scientific research.The overarching goal is to “pursue an active role in modernizing the education and research system and in training management level officials and elite.” The fast-paced development taking place in Vietnam demands certified,degree-holding human resources in terms of engineers, scientists and senior corporate managers.Two types of initiatives are being privileged by the Embassy: - Delocalization of French degree-granting training; - Underscoring the attractiveness of French university education and student mobility. These two complementary pillars have recently been put in place, making it possible to offer a general

training program for bachelor and master degree qualification in country and encourage research mobility for the Master 2 and doctoral degree. French University Poles that have been operational since the beginning of the 2006 academic year are the core of the new academic mechanism. The training programs they offer include science and technology, life science and biotechnologies, social studies, economics and law. Specialized operators or programs round out the training offer, including management (Centre Franco-vietnamien de formation à la gestion – CFVG) and engineering sciences (Programme de Formation des ingénieurs d’excellence au Vietnam – PFIEV). This cooperation in elite training is intended to broaden the scope of the francophone community and make francophony a quality benchmark for Vietnamese elite.

Delocalized Training Programs: A French University in Vietnam French University Poles that have been operational since the beginning of the 2006 academic year are the core of the new delocalized academic mechanism. The training programs they offer include science and technology, life science and biotechnologies, social studies, economics and law. Specia-

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lized operators or programs round out the training offer, including management (Centre Francovietnamien de formation à la gestion – CFVG) and engineering sciences (Programme de Formation des ingénieurs d’excellence au Vietnam – PFIEV).

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French University Poles (Pôles universitaires français – PUF) When French President Chirac visited Hanoi in October 2004, a memorandum of understanding was signed by the French and Vietnamese governments establishing French University Poles within the National Universities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This ambitious project is aiming to provide an umbrella for all French university cooperation in this country, make it consistent and give it visibility. The project involves delocalization in Vietnam of French training based on the European BMD model (Bachelor, Master and Doctorate degree studies). All 15 French universities involved in the project are also committed to a quality assurance approach as a token of the excellence of the instruction offered; a strong articulation with research is an integral part of the undertaking. The following curricula have been made available: • Hanoi > Master in Science and Information and Communications Technologies (Paris 11). > Master in Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering (Aix-Marseille). > Master 2 in Economics Expertise and International Project Management (Paris 12) > Master in Social and Human Management (Toulouse 1) > Master in Business Computing (Paris-Dauphine) > Doctorate in Law (Toulouse 1, Lyon 3, Bordeaux 4) > Bachelor in Managerial Economics (Lyon 2)

• Ho Chi Minh City > Master in Computer Technology (Paris 6 and Bordeaux 1) > Master in Micro-electronics and Telecommunications (Rennes 1) > Master in Materials (Rennes 1) > Master in Biotechnology (Paris 11) > Bachelor in Economics / Management (Toulouse 1) The choice of these curricula is in response to a demand expressed by the Vietnamese side and is cognizant of the specificity of the industrial and economic environment. The instruction is mostly given at the Master level, in keeping with a heavy industry demand for high-caliber managers, while promoting the development of research activity. The programs offered in Hanoi are balanced between hard sciences, social studies, law and economics. Those in Ho Chi Minh City focus essentially on science and technology,in particular information technology and biotechnology.

For more information: • Hanoi Laurent Grosclaude, Project Manager, Pole Co-director Email: [email protected] • Ho Chi Minh City Sylvie Mira-Bonnardel, Pole Co-director Email: [email protected] www.puf.edu.vn

The PFIEV - A Training Program for Engineers of Excellence in Vietnam In the wake of a commitment made in 1997 by the French and Vietnamese governments, along with the involvement of major French firms, the PFIEV provides an expertise umbrella in Vietnam for engineer training. It is headquartered in the Polytechnical Institutes of Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City as well as in the National School of Civil Engineering in Hanoi. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been funding this program since 1999 for a total amount of € 4 M.The funding will cease in late September 2007. Much work has already been done to have the program transferred to the Vietnamese side. The training program is based on a strongly experimental model built upon a sound prerequisite study of basic sciences.

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The curriculum is five years in length,modeled on the French ‘Grandes Écoles’or Higher Schools of Engineering.The opening of new horizons in the corporate world is a reality (internships, professional support positions, tours of businesses), and a minimum level of English and French is required for a degree qualification. Training in corporate and industrial project management rounds out this program that is touted to become a benchmark for restructuring engineer training in Vietnam. Research activities are being put in place in order to offer students training through research activities and to enable teacher scientists to structure their research work and develop relationships between the institutions of learning and the corporate community. The third class of PFIEV engineers graduated in June 2006. The degree is issued by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and is one of the first degrees outside of Europe to be recognized by the French government based on the appraisal made by the Commission for Engineer Accreditations.It is also the first Vietnamese higher education diploma in this field to enjoy international recognition.The program had an For more information: intake of over 1,200 students at the start of the 2006 academic Sandrine Maximilien, Project Manager year who are at various stages of their five-year degree course.By E-mail: [email protected] late 2010, the engineer stream will stabilize at 300 graduates a www.pfiev.edu.vn year for the 13 options combined.

The France - Vietnam Center for Management Training The first France-Vietnam cooperation program in the field of education was established under an agreement signed by the Vietnamese and French governments in 1992. The FranceVietnam Center for Management Training (Centre francovietnamien de formation à la gestion – CFVG) is operated by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It is now a major player in management training in Vietnam.The CFVG has been a member of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) since 2005, and is working on an accreditation process for its programs (EPAS, EFMD Program Accreditation System). With a presence in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in premises made available by its partners, the National University of Economics in Hanoi and the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City that were renovated from funding provided by the regional SYNERGIE program, the CFVG provides junior Vietnamese management-level staff the unique opportunity to soak in the excellence of France’s most reputable institutions in the fields of management, finance and marketing, offering three different degree programs: In Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City: • The MBA,Master of Business Administration.The management degree is granted jointly by the CCIP and the Advanced School of National Economics (École Supérieure d’Économie Nationale – ESEN) in Hanoi (Francophone stream and Anglophone stream); and by the CCIP and the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City (Anglophone stream). • The MEBF, Master in Economics of Banking and Finance. A specialized degree program in banking and finance offered in English and issued jointly by ESCP-EAP and the Paris Dauphine University, intended for bank managerial staff and corporate financial directors.

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In Ho Chi Minh City: • The MMSS, Master in Marketing, Sales and Service. A specialized degree in marketing and sales, offered in English and issued jointly by the IAE Paris 1 Sorbonne and ESCP-EAP, designed for sales and marketing managerial staff (mass consumption, industry, pharmaceuticals, services, etc.). In nearly 15 years, the CFVG has contributed to the training of over 800 young professionals, including 43 from Laos and Cambodia; 20.6 percent of CFVG’s graduate students are now working in upper management positions.

For more information: Jérôme Bon, Project Manager Email: [email protected] www.cfvg.org

Establishment of “CampusFrance Vietnam” CampusFrance was established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of National Education as the promotional arm for higher education in French abroad. CampusFrance Vietnam is a new service provided by the Embassy of France in Vietnam for Vietnamese students desirous of continuing their university education in France. It is under the Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Department and has an office in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Students are provided with personalized assistance

from the guidance stage to planning their stay in France. Students can consult the www.campusfrance.org site on the Internet and go to its specific page for Vietnam www.vietnam.campusfrance.org where they will receive the needed guidance. A personalized space has been provided to enable them to communicate with CampusFrance Vietnam officers. A powerful search engine and a catalogue containing references to 20,000 higher education programs are also available on line.

978 student visas were issued in Vietnam in 2006.

Any student desirous of going to study in France must register through this site in order to start his or her file. This enables a more effective follow-up of student applications. Students can see how their application is progressing in real time from the time they fill it out and submit it until their visa is granted.

50 percent of applicants for higher education in France have their high school leaving certificate, 29 percent have a Dai Hoc (master level) and 13 percent a Ky Su (engineering degree).

Moreover,French institutions of higher learning have access to these files and can thus consult application files on line.

SOME FIGURES:

40 percent of selected applicants enroll at the bachelor level (Licence 1), and 46 percent are accepted for master or doctoral training or a program in one of the “grandes écoles” (advanced schools).

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For more information: Alexis Rinckenbach, Cooperation Attaché, SCAC Email: [email protected]

The Embassy’s Scholarship Programs In 2006, the Embassy revised its scholarship programs based on a partnership approach focusing on structuring our university and scientific cooperation in ongoing dialogue with the Vietnamese authorities and academics and on boosting our research projects.

1.“Evariste Galois”Program The new “Evariste Galois” program focusing on priority issues in our higher education and research cooperation was used in 2006 to refurbish the Embassy’s scholarship offer and make it more attractive. The awarding procedure was reworked to bring it into line with the French government’s standards for scholarship candidates hosted in France.

A More Visible Program… To make it more widely known, the Embassy’s scholarship program was given the name of the young French math prodigy Évariste Galois (18111832). This reference highlights the overriding scientific component of the program and is also an

A Popularity Record The invitation for applications was advertised in the media in October 2006 during a promotional campaign that was continued throughout November in Vietnam’s large dailies. When the program was launched, an introductory day for the student public was held at the Hanoi French Cultural Center on October 20, on which occasion 300 introductory brochures were distributed. The question-and-answer period was particularly fruitful. The SCAC team fielded a constant flow of questions for nearly two hours on all the practical aspects of the program. The press had been invited to the launch and it was covered in the dailies and over the airwaves (Radio Vietnam). A similar event will be organized in Ho Chi Minh City in November along with an information tour in the universities. On program opening day, the Embassy’s web site had a record number of visitors, with 1,241 visitors checking out the “Évariste Galois” announcement. In three weeks, the notice was viewed 3,600 times - a daily average of 145.

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implicit tribute to one of the oldest and most fruitful fields of our cooperation with Vietnam.

...Focusing on Priority Fields of Cooperation, Made More Attractive Scholarships for Master’s Degree II Research and doctoral studies are given in three major areas of cooperation: - Basic sciences (math, chemistry, physics, biology, health sciences, agronomy). - Engineering sciences (applied sciences and technologies; civil engineering, urbanism, etc.). - Management, economics, commerce. - Law and political science. In response to a recurring demand from thesis directors as well as scholarship holders, our offer has been reassessed based on the following format: -

25 thesis scholarships with the qualifier “excellent”that give special consideration to a codirection arrangement, lasting from 15 months to three years (three months the first year and six months for the next two years, including a round trip to France each year).

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50 Master’s Degree scholarships, reduced to 10 months to match the length of the academic year.

Based on an agreement with the Île-de-France region, applicants wishing to study in an institution in that region are short-listed through the “Évariste Galois” program for a possible regional scholarship. This partnership increases the reach of the Embassy’s program.

A Simplified Awarding Procedure, Shared Selection In an effort to reduce the imbalance among the number of applications filed in the north compared to the rest of Vietnam, graduate students can now submit their “paper file”to the Consulate of France in Ho Chi Minh City or with the French Cultural Center in Hue, although file processing continues to be centralized in Hanoi.

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The applicant downloads the application form from the Embassy’s web site, fills it in and returns it along with a copy of his or her full file (including supporting documents). This procedure now handled electronically in part enables each student to receive an electronic acknowledgment and have the student listed immediately on the initial applicant roster. On the basis of the assessment grid drawn up by the Embassy, the Scientific, Technical and Pedagogical Mission (Mission scientifique, technique et pédagogique – MSTP) of the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research assesses the acceptable files sent in electronically. In compliance with the recommendations of the French government’s guidelines for awarding scholarships, a local joint selection board has been formed, made up of Vietnamese academics and institutional representatives. Along with representatives of the Embassy who are necessarily associated with the selection process and those of the Agence universitaire de la francophonie (AUF), representatives of the Ministry of Education and training (“Program 322”), as well as the National Universities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,the Hanoi Polytechnical Institute, etc. sit on this committee. On the basis of the assessment made by the MSTP, the Board sets the thematic and geographic priorities of the selection. The joint local board had its first meeting on April 17, 2007. The setting up of this board strengthens the academic and scientific partnership of which the Embassy’s scholarship program is one of the key tools.It is also an expression of the concern felt by the Embassy to adopt a more institutional approach in the distribution of its allocations. Priority is given to doctoral level students in a co-directed arrangement.

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The attention given to supervising the research project and its inclusion in an existing cooperation arrangement at the time the joint selection is made is intended in the mid-term to build up a critical mass of Vietnamese researchers and academics to be future relays in our joint cooperation projects. The “scholarships” tool is thus by vocation intended to support university projects such as those of the French University Poles (Pôles universitaires français – PUF) or scientific projects such as those of the upcoming “Hubert Curien Program” (Programme Hubert Curien – PHC).

2. Co-funded Programs In order to enable a maximum number of students to pursue university study in France, the Embassy has offered various co-funded programs for several years now with local partners (Ministry of Education and Training, People’s Committees, PetroVietnam, Electricity of Vietnam, etc.), as well as with French institutions (Île-de-France and Poitou-Charentes regions; Universities of Technology, etc.). In addition to the amount remitted by the funding agency, each student involved in such partnerships receives a scholarship for social security coverage which guarantees him or her the status of French government scholarship holder and the advantages thereto pertaining. Some partnerships (Ministry of Education and Training, PetroVietnam, People’s Committees) include a year of preparatory language training funded by the Embassy.

For more information: Alexis Rinckenbach, Cooperation Attaché, SCAC Email: [email protected]

Coaching the Vietnam Government’s Scientific Policy Vietnam has established a policy for the development of scientific research. France is intending to provide flanking measures for the Vietnam government’s policy in areas that intersect its own priorities, based on two modes of intervention: expertise to assist in identifying capital development projects, as well as support for the training of Vietnamese researchers through scientific studies and hosting doctoral level students in France. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs provides services in terms of scientific intelligence, information, networking, support for the French presence in international conferences and help in setting up French research structures abroad.In Vietnam in particular,the Embassy is supporting the ongoing presence and actions of 18 researchers from the International Cooperation Center for Agriculture Research for Development (Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement – CIRAD), seven researchers from the Research Institute for Development (Institut de recherche pour le développement – IRD), three researchers from the French School of Asian Studies (École française d’Extrême-Orient–EFEO)and one researcher funded by the National Center for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique - CNRS) within the International Research Center Multimedia, Information, Communication, Applications (MICA) housed in the Hanoi Polytechnical Institute.

1.Seminar on scientific cooperation between Vietnam and France On March 7 and 8, 2007, the Embassy of France in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) held a seminar on scientific

cooperation between France and Vietnam.

Signature of scientific cooperation agreements between France and Vietnam A scientific cooperation agreement between France and Vietnam, as well as an agreement for a new program of assistance for scientific mobility were signed on this occasion. This program under the name “Hoa Sen Lotus” will fund projects developed jointly by two research teams one French, the other Vietnamese, which will receive financial support after evaluation from the two partner levels in both countries. The support granted is intended to cover the “internationally induced costs”of projects,in other words the mobility of researchers involved in these joint initiatives. The seminar held on March 7 and 8 brought together over 300 researchers, scholars, representatives of French research agencies and their Vietnamese counterparts.Their purpose was to jointly identify the thematic priorities and details of the first invitation for applicants, which may well be launched by the end of the first quarter of 2007.The joint selection of projects will take place before July in order to have them included in the respective financial programming. This collaboration will also provide input for the analytical thinking being done on the format and themes of a future Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP) program. The wrap up of the workshop proceedings provided an overview in which the priority proposals were highlighted, thus laying the foundation for the first “Hoa Sen”project call.

2. Opening of the “Science and Technology Institute”in Hanoi

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An institute featuring French science and technology was opened on March 6, 2007 in Hanoi when the chairperson of the National Scientific Research Center (Centre national de la recherche scientifique CNRS), Mme Catherine Bréchignac, the chairman of the Research Institute for Development (Institut de

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recherche pour le développement – IRD), Mr. JeanFrançois Girard, and the chairman of the Académie des technologies, Mr. François Guinot, came on mission to Vietnam.

A Pragmatic Project: Mutualization of Means and Visibility for French Agencies in Vietnam The French Institute of Science project was put forward by the Embassy in early 2006. When the chairmen of the IRD and CIRAD were on joint mission in Hanoi in June 2006, validation was given in principle,followed in turn by a gesture of support from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS. The Académie des technologies, although still without a representative in Vietnam, very recently announced its intention to join such an entity,which could therefore be renamed the Science “and Technology”Institute.

This alliance comes in response to the pragmatic consideration of economy of scale, for instance enabling a reduction of operating expenses and the sharing of space used temporarily by researchers or postgraduate students. Furthermore, a more active policy to promote our scientific and technological cooperation arrangements could be driven by what could be referred to as the “French Science Institute in Vietnam.” Our presence as well as our scientific achievements in this country would certainly enjoy increased visibility.

For more information: Alexis Rinckenbach, Cooperation Attaché, SCAC Email: [email protected]

International Research Center MICA (Multimedia, Information, Communication and Applications) Opened in November 2002, this joint laboratory is housed in the Hanoi Polytechnical Institute (HPI), which provided funding for much of the construction.Three institutions share administration of it:the HPI,the INP Grenoble and the CNRS. Since January 2006, the MICA Center has had the status of Joint International Unit of the CNRS (UMI2954), an international pole of excellence. The center’s vocation is to deal with a number of concerns relating to the evolution of information technologies, multimedia and data processing for industrial purposes and thereby contribute to Vietnam’s development at the level of research as well as in training and the industrial fields. Its research initiatives are broken down into the following scientific fields: word and image processing, multimedia, using the Internet, perceptual spaces, man-machine interfaces and communicating objects, high-tech instrumentation. The four key objectives of the MICA Center are: develop quality research actions; validate them through hardware and software productions; knowledge and skills transfer to Vietnamese students, scholars and especially industrialists by helping to develop with them and for them the hardware and software tools that they are currently lacking; affirm itself as a showcase of French scientific know-how. Since its establishment, the MICA Center has been involved in six national projects and 12 international projects, being leader in 15 of them.Thirty-five researchers making up three scientific teams along with some fifteen students work permanently in the center.They have published over 350 scientific papers and shared in over 60 international conferences.

For more information: Nguyen Trong Giang, Director Email: [email protected] Web: http://mica.edu.vn

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The FSP BIODIVA Project Vietnam’s mountainous regions have conserved an exceptional diversity of wild and domestic animal species that are of both economic and heritage interest. For geographic or historical reasons, they have largely escaped the major upheavals that have transformed traditional production systems in Southeast Asia over the last 50 years. Over 50 different ethnic groups inhabit these regions and eke out a living from these differentiated ecosystems. In very remote areas in the Annamite Cordillera, many large mammal species (saola, giant muntjac, Java rhinoceros, etc.) have been discovered or rediscovered in recent years. The project will be focusing on some of these species over its three-year time frame (2005-2007). The saola, an animal icon of Vietnam, is one of them. Described for the first time only in 1995 in Nature magazine,it is threatened with extinction particularly due to poaching. Safeguarding it is therefore a matter of urgency. Embryo cloning was the solution chosen to achieve this. At the current time, six-day-old embryos have been developed using the cell nucleus transfer cloning technique. A number of them have been frozen for future implantation in surrogate mothers. Biodiva is supported by the Priority Solidarity Fund under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the amount of € 1.7 over five years (2003-2008) in partnership with the French Fund for the Global Environment.It is being implemented by CIRAD and INRA for the For more information: French side and by the National Institute of Animal Husbandry Dr. Jean-Charles Maillard, Project Manager (NIAH) and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology Email: [email protected] (VAST) for the Vietnamese side.

The IRD in Vietnam. An Exemplary Scientific Partnership:The “Soils, Land Use, Degradation, Rehabilitation”Team (Hoa Binh and Phu Tho Provinces, Northern Vietnam)

Natural resources degradation on slopes (quality and availability of water,soil fertility) in many Southeast Asian countries is an increasing source of problems. Because of population increase and economic development, these resources are being put under increasing pressure on many fronts.This is particularly true of the mountain watersheds in Southeast Asia which are home to the most destitute communities. The project in Vietnam headed by Research Unit 176 “Solutions”of the IRD’s Department of Living Resources,in cooperation with the Institute of Soils and Fertilizers under the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Science within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) has entered its second phase (2005-2008).The activities the Research Unit are part of the Management of Soil Erosion Consortium (MSEC) program of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI-CGIAR) managed by Dr. Christian Valentin (pedologist) for Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. By analyzing cropping systems on marginal land and by gaining insight into soil degradation processes and modeling them, the project is attempting to reverse the soil “degradation spiral”and work for the rehabilitation thereof through an interface of agro-ecologic and biophysical approaches that integrate human strategies in climate and economic forcing processes for the sustainable use of soil and water. The special feature of this study is that it is based on a actual case involving the development of forage growing in mountainous zones (oats in winter on rice fields, perennial tropical grass on slopes in association with tree planting) in order to provide food for herds throughout the year and at the same time

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protect the soil. This initiative is being carried out in partnership with CIRAD and the Vietnamese National Institute of Animal Husbandry (NIAH). This project is being co-funded by the IRD (€ 250,000 annually); the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the FSP “DURAS” (€ 150,000 for two years, 2005-2007); the Ministry of Research (ECCO-PNRH,€150,000,2004-2006);by the IWMI in the amount of € 150,000 annually, by the “Sustainable Development” network of the Francophony University Agency (AUF-Erosion, € 100,000, 2005-2007) and by support for the funding of many thesis scholarships arising from the educational programs of the Embassy of France,the AUF and the government of Vietnam.The MAE is also covering the cost of an international volunteer assigned to the project.This project is being carried out by means of a strong partnership with a number of Vietnamese research institutions of the Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology and numerous universities, including the Universities of Science in Hanoi, Paris VI, Montpellier, Bordeaux I, Newcastle (England) and Wageningen (Holland).

For more information: Dr. Didier Orange, Project Manager Email: [email protected]

The Priority Solidarity Fund “ Support for Research on the Challengers of Economic and Social Transition in Vietnam” (FSP2S) Launched in October 2004 for a 55-month period and with a budget of €1.7 M,this Priority Solidarity Fund project is aiming to produce and disseminate, as tools to help decision-making, the findings of quality research in the field of social studies, economics and political science, both through the development of joint research programs as well as the training of researchers in new methodological approaches. The project is funding 10 joint research projects over a four-year period on groundbreaking, multidisciplinary subjects, categorized under three leading themes: - “Growth of the private sector and the informal economy - the socio-economic challenge and government response,” four projects. - “Vietnam in the global context - the dynamics of regional and international integration,”two projects. - “Permanencies and contemporary transformations of social structures and identity referents,”four projects. Training through research is being encouraged by the awarding of 10 research allocations alternately between Vietnam and France (one Vietnamese doctorate-level student for each project, a six-month stay per year in France). The 10 doctoral candidates have now been identified and they left for France at the beginning of the 2007 calendar year. The first meeting of the Social Sciences Cooperation Board, the steering arm of the project, was held in July 2006 at the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences. This meeting enabled a progress report to be made on each of the 10 projects. The presence of Vietnamese researchers in French research laboratories along with the one-time support for research

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programs being conducted by French and Vietnamese scientific personalities is part of an active policy of networking research in the social sciences. In 2006, this scientific networking was improved thanks to the holding of seminars on methodologies and conferences in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnamese researches were assisted financially to attend an international seminar at the Institut des Sciences de l’Homme and University of Lyon 2.

For more information: Stéphane Lagrée, Project Manager Email: [email protected] http://www.ambafrance-vn.org/ http://www.efeo.fr/

Export Trade Capacity-Building:The PRCC The PRCC is a joint undertaking between the Agence Française de Développement and the General Directorate of the Treasury and Economic Policy (Direction générale du Trésor et de la Politique économique – DGTPE) under the French Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry. It makes funding available for technical cooperation schemes and training to help eligible developing countries in Asia and Africa to share more effectively in multilateral negotiations and improve their position in the development of international trade. It therefore involves the two key components of trade assistance, which are improvement of export capacities and the related institutional technical assistance. In Vietnam, projects coming under the PRCC have been identified around three focus areas: -

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Institutional capacity building for export development through the provision of training for staff of the line ministries and in the provinces. Support for the strengthening of agro-industry chains and training programs for the development of exports with companies, corporations or syndicates in such chains. Support for the development of tourism and ecotourism that highlight components relating to local arts and crafts in remote,sparsely populated areas.

An initial envelope of € 1.5 M made it possible to fund in 2004 and 2005 the first cooperation initiatives in Vietnam, which included support for the develop-

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ment of the Vietnamese mechanism to provide financial support for exports, training of Vietnamese trade advisors, support for exporting fruit and vegetable crops from the Da Lat region, as well as assistance for the development of technical and industry standards.A second envelope in the amount of € 1.5 M made available in June 2005 will enable the funding of new projects, some of which have already been identified (such as the training project on intellectual propriety for Ministry of Commerce staff and the coffee scholarship project in Dak Lak province). Projects may involve the central or provincial level of government, representative levels or companies that play a unifying role for the needs of the sector.These initiatives are being implemented by means of provisions of technical assistance technique, training and awareness-raising campaigns, along with onetime studies. A PRCC introduction and briefing seminar was held on June 2, 2006 in Hanoi by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Agence Française de Développement and the Hanoi Economic Mission. A second seminar will be held in June 2007 in Ho Chi Minh City.

For more information: Email: [email protected] www.afd.fr

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Training in the Health Sector Postgraduate training for Vietnamese health professionals has always occupied a special place in French cooperation with Vietnam. Cooperation at this level involves many different stakeholders: hospitals, universities, research centers and institutes, associations as well as a dozen different territorial communities. The French pharmaceutical industry is well represented in Vietnam where it handles one third of drug product imports. Several laboratories provide training: international conventions, on-the-spot training, equipment placement and study trips to France.

Ongoing training programs have successfully been conducted in medical imaging, odontology and emergency medicine. However,instruction in cancerology had to be suspended after two unsuccessful attempts. Skills development courses referred to as Level 2 have enabled to date 314 doctors, pharmacists and biologists to receive additional training in France (22 in 2006). Other trainees (for a total of 595) received financial assistance for study trips through decentralized cooperation, various associations or private invitations, notably from pharmaceutical laboratories. This provision has enabled altogether 2,074 trainees working in the health sector to go to France from 1986 to 2006. The year 2005-2006 saw the extension of the training program for medical specialists at Levels 1 and 2, as well as continuing education streams. For Level 1, an average of 50 new FFI trainees a year are being accepted at the present time. However, there has been an increase of 32 percent in the number of those taking Level 2 training programs compared to 2004-2005 (22 compared to 16).

The Intern Function Program (Faisant Fonction d’Interne – FFI) This program offers various opportunities for skills upgrading and continuing professional training for Vietnamese medical specialists, with nine specialty streams. Selection tests involve knowledge of the specialty and obtaining a French-language proficiency diploma. Since 1986, 1,165 specialists have taken these one-year courses in a French hospital center (47 new FFIs were selected in 2006).

This program is co-funded in excess of 70 percent by French university hospitals. It costs them an estimated € 27,000 for every FFI position (about € 1.3 million a year for 50 FFIs). The Embassy input to the funding of this program amounted to approximately € 422,000 in 2006 (€ 200,000 for training in Vietnam, € 220,000 for pre-training scholarships, Level 2 scholarships, a dozen scholarships (Égide rate 1) for 6 months, plus airfares.

For more information: Pham Thu Nguyet, Sector Assistant, SCAC Email: [email protected]

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Cultural Affairs and Francophony L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center (CCF) and the French Cultural Network in Vietnam

L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center is a tool for influence, partnership and cooperation in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Broadly stated, its mission is cooperation and dissemination of French culture and the French language. It enjoys a sound reputation as one of the key cultural institutions in the country. Positioned at the heart of cultural development in a country undergoing far-reaching changes,L’Espace-CCF is making a major contribution to the emergence of new realms of expression through its commitment to contemporary FrenchVietnamese creation.

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Initiatives led by L’Espace-CCF are in keeping with the Embassy’s strategy. It includes cooperation activities in the following areas: art and culture, francophony, books and writing, audiovisual and journalism, language and educational initiatives, promotion of higher education in France thanks to the presence of

a language cooperation office and CampusFrance. The institution provides an umbrella for the French cultural network in Vietnam that includes the French Cultural Centers in Da Nang and Hue that are contributing to relay cooperation activities in the various aforementioned areas of intervention. It works in close consultation with the SCAC office in Ho Chi Minh City and the IDECAF,a cultural institution in the economic capital of Vietnam under the administrative authority of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Such relays expand their field of intervention in a spirit of multi-sector cooperation with the Vietnamese partners. The cultural institution of the Embassy of France in Vietnam has developed its project on the theme of the promotion of cultural diversity and the meeting of the two cultures based on the pillars of “culture and economics”and “culture and heritage.”

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Some Figures Relating to L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center Multidisciplinary cultural cooperation institution occupying 2,850 m2. 280 m2 exhibition hall. 245-seat auditorium. 330-m2 media center with 5,000 members, 25,000 books, 50 periodicals and 3,500 audiovisual documents available on loan. Hosts about fifteen events each month (exhibitions, shows, projections, debates, seminars, etc.). A staff base of 95, including French and Vietnamese members. 5,000 learners enroll each year in French language courses.

L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center opened its doors in 2003 in a historical art deco style building that was completely renovated with funds from French cooperation. It is located in downtown Hanoi in a cultural quarter where many galleries and book stores are lined up in proximity to two other cultural dissemination centers, the National Opera House and the Workers’ Theater that regularly feature shows that it produces. For more information: Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché – Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center Email:[email protected]

The IDECAF in Ho Chi Minh City The IDECAF (Institut d’échanges culturels avec la France / Institute for Cultural Exchanges with France) is an institution established under Vietnamese law, under aegis ofthe Foreign Relations Departmentofthe Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee. It is the focal point for a number of mainstays of French-Vietnamese cooperation: promotion of the French language, cultural and audiovisual initiatives,promotion of study in France. This institution is a leading partner of the Cooperation and Cultural Affairs office in Ho Chi Minh City that produces the “SCAC-IDECAF”cultural agenda published every two months in 3,000 copies.In 2006,it received a grant of € 61,000 from the SCAC, to which must be added another € 30,000 for book orders and magazine subscription. It has seconded three French experts to this institution,one for educational activities and coaching the media center, one for Espace EduFrance and one for audiovisual cooperation. Its spacious, pleasant media center that opened in January 2006 was set up with major input from both the French and Vietnamese sides.Covering 800 square meters,it is open to all publics.It contains some 20,000 items (5,000 of them are new) in all types of media with random,uncontrolled access.It is frequently used for lectures and reading sessions. It receives a very respectable number of visitors and the figures keep on increasing. The media center is home to a wellidentified “Image Pole” where DVDs, CD-ROMs, cassettes and books can be consulted. It has a small exhibition space.

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The 320-seat performance facility (plans call for its

renovation) enables the IDECAF to host movie events (short film festival, cartoon film festival, etc.) and to have regular showings of French movies (one a week with two billings). The hall is also used for concerts, lectures and stage plays.The exhibition hall is a venue for the presentation of artists,both local and French. French language instruction is the mainstay of the IDECAF.Itholds four 11-week sessions a year for 5,000 to 6,000 different students (10,000 to 11.000 enroll every year). Courses are given by a team of 60 teachers (50 Vietnamese and 10 French). Although there has been a slight drop in numbers for general French (due in part to competition from other language centers), there has been an increase in enrollment in courses for young people (6- to 16-year-olds). Efforts have been continued to implement new teaching strategies (such as introduction of the Campus method, curriculum planning based on European standards, matching the course offer with that of the Hanoi French Cultural Center). The IDECAF also offers specific courses relating to cooperation projects: courses for FFI doctors, preparatory courses for study in France (ASIUT program) and language training for Vietnamese government scholarship holders. The institute has confirmed its function as an examination center. In addition to a monthly session for French-language proficiency testing, an initial DELF-Junior session was held at the national level in 2006. The IDECAF continues to be home to Espace EduFrance,

a service that provides information for Vietnamese students applying to study in France. Since the establishment of CampusFrance, Espace EduFrance is working more closely with the Center for Study in France (headquartered in the Consulate General), that performs applicant assessment and registration in educational institutions.

For more information: Dominique d’Ollone, Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Attaché,SCAC,Ho Chi Minh City Email:[email protected]

Francophony Month Each year, francophony celebrations take place countrywide for over a month. They find a particular echo due to their wide appeal to youth,the wide array of events and strong media coverage. A schedule is developed by the Francophone Embassies, Delegations and Institutions Group (Groupe des Ambassades, Délégations et Institutions Francophones – GADIF), the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Asia-Pacific regional office of the International Organization of Francophony, with the active involvement of the French cultural network in Vietnam. Francophone festivities have grown with each successive installment and are now enjoying an outstanding reach. The attractiveness of the cultural programming and initiatives undertaken to promote francophone use are a further illustration of the great diversity of francophony in Vietnam. A major cultural

event in the country, Francophony Month is celebrated countrywide in Vietnam and mobilizes hundreds of partners who contribute to the successful holding of many different activities undertaken in the key cities as well as in the many primary, secondary and higher education institutions. Over 100,000 persons share in the different events. The celebration of francophony in all its forms is well received from year to year.It is playing an increasingly important role as a unifying factor and is enjoying an outstanding level of civil society involvement. For more information: Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché – Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center Email:[email protected]

Cultural Affairs and Francophony

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A priority in France’s cultural initiatives in Vietnam is dissemination of contemporary creation in the key areas of the arts, promoting the diversification of culture actors and their professionalization. Particular emphasis is placed on the emergence of author production, exchanges among creators and professionals from both countries as well as the transfer of expertise. France’s cooperation in Vietnam in the cultural and artistic fields features the promotion of cultural diversity based on universal values.Since the opening of L’Espace-French Cultural Center in the fall of 2003, the Embassy has redefined the strategic challenges of its cultural policy and restructured its operational arms based on specific purposes. Thus endowed with a fresh potential, the Embassy has pursued its objectives according to four priority pillars:

1. Support for contemporary creation in the diversity of its expressions: promotion of French artists and support for young Vietnamese creators. 2. Deepening of cooperation programs already underway (contemporary dance and symphony music under the FSP “Support for the Cultural Development of Vietnam”; fashion, photography and theater); these ambitious programs link training and creation in an approach that highlights skills transfer. 3. Promotion of interchange among French and Vietnamese artists. 4. Development of European and francophone cooperation in the field of culture.

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The image and commitment of France in the field of culture, the density and diversity of its programs linked to the potential for developing partnerships notably with prestigious Vietnamese cultural institutions, cooperation arrangements at the European and francophone levels, have enabled the Embassy to occupy the role of leading stakeholder in foreign culture in Vietnam. Since 2003, the Embassy has been able to make good use of its tools - L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center and the Image Pole in the IDECAF in Ho Chi Minh City - both venues opening in the fall of 2003 after an extensive remake.These two facilities are now the focal points of the Embassy’s cultural cooperation initiatives in the two largest cities of the country. L’Espace coordinates and implements the cultural programming in a broad array of artistic fields in keeping with the center’s generalist cultural vocation. To date, the SCAC office in Ho Chi

Minh City has primarily used the IDECAF in the framework of a partnership approach that links leading cultural actors in the city. Since 2005, this streamlined mechanism has been expanded and is based on a redefinition of the strategic challenges of our cultural policy and restructuring of our operational arms based on the Partnership Framework Document signed between the two governments in September 2006. The cultural center’s branch in Hue that was set up in 2005 is proving to be a relay of the Embassy’s cultural initiatives in Thua Thien-Hue province and Da Nang.

For more information: Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché – Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center Email:[email protected]

Courses Offered by L’Espace-CCF up to French and francophone cultures.The purpose is to generate an influential francophony and reinforce the attractiveness of France with the local elite, present and future. A high-caliber educational team made up of native-speaking francophone teachers and trained Vietnamese teachers,all experienced and driven by learner results, is contributing to the recognized quality of the instruction given and to the growing reach of the institution. A multi-year on-thejob training program for the teachers has been developed in order to update their knowledge and thus upgrade the quality of the service offered.

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As a major player in France’s linguistic initiatives in Vietnam, the course facility of L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center offers instruction to over 5,000 students each year.It has 11 lecture rooms.Its studentcentered French language teaching approach is open to anyone from primary level to advanced, with emphasis on communication, interactivity and the acquisition of cultural knowledge that are musts in any linguistic learning.The course component aims to disseminate the French language through an opening

The teaching of French at L’Espace-Hanoi CCF is based on two approaches in order to meet the specific needs of France-Vietnam cooperation as well as to promote individual projects, both university and vocational based: 1. Tailored courses are developed according to the specific needs of companies, government offices and institutions that would like to provide training to their employees in French.The curriculum, frequency and length of such courses vary depending on the needs and objectives of each learner group. Such courses are often provided to meet the specific needs of France-Vietnam cooperation in the framework of

various Priority Solidarity Fund projects or for the promotion of study in France for targeted publics, including students selected for scholarship study by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training, upcoming managerial staff in large corporate structures (PetroVietnam). For convenience, these courses can be taken at L’Espace or on site. In 2006, a total of 5,916 hours of tailored courses was tallied up. 2. Regular courses are open to anyone 16 years of age or older who would like to learn French or move through the intermediate and advanced levels. Different programs have been set up to meet individual needs: standard French, French for oral communication, written French. Each session is 10 weeks long.Regular courses are designed to promote individual academic or professional projects that require mastery of French (such as top-level preparatory linguistic training prior to leaving for a study program or professional training in France). Their key focus is a growing number of individuals who have made the personal decision to receive instruction in French for a university or professional training project (65 percent and 33 percent respectively).This interest in subsequent academic or professional training is resulting in a loyal public who are studying for increasingly longer terms. There were 5,005 enrolments in 2006 for four sessions

involving 2,120 different learners. It is noteworthy that the demand for French courses at L’Espace-CCF has been higher that the supply available, which is evidence that Vietnamese youth are interested in foreign languages in general and in French in particular. Tests for the DELF (diplôme d’études de langue française / diploma of French language studies) and DALF (diplôme approfondi de langue française / advanced diploma of French language studies), diplomas certifying language proficiency issued by the French Ministry of National Education, are held twice a year for students who have signed up at the L’Espace-CCF.The success rates (91 percent for Unit B1, 81 percent for Unit B2, 100 percent for Unit C1) are a testimony to the outstanding performance of the institution. Each learner taking French courses becomes a L’Espace-CCF member and is entitled to the various services offered by the establishment (media center, shows, lectures, etc.). For more information: Lionel Sourisseau,Course Director,L’Espace-CCF Email:[email protected]

Dissemination of the French Language Vietnam and Francophony French is the mother tongue or acquired language of 181 million people throughout the world. It is also the founding link between 56 countries and territories that have become members of the International Organization of Francophony. Since becoming a member of this organization in 1970, Vietnam’s involvement in francophony is fleshed out by its membership in international bodies that use French as a working language. Out of Vietnam’s population of 83 million, only an estimated 160,000 people use French as a matter of practical necessity, while 200,000 use it casually. To this figure must be added the 190,000 persons learning French (considered to be partially francophone), totaling 550,000 speakers or less than 0.7 percent of the overall population.

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French Language Instruction Programs In the Education System The key objective of French cooperation in this sector is the long-range promotion of instruction in the French language while working along with the spirit and form now prevailing in the new directions of the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) for revamping the country’s education system. Subsequent to the June 2005 amendment of the Education Law (1998), the new national project for learning and teaching foreign languages identifies English as the primary foreign language, while stressing the importance of French instruction among the four languages officially taught. From an administrative point of view, instruction in

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Curriculum Program Students enrolled French L.L.1 100 to 150 hrs/yr 120 000 (standard curriculum) for 7 years L.L.1 – intensive 200 to 350 hrs/yr 1600 (optional classes) for 3 years “From/into”French 250 hrs/year 16 240 (bilingual classes) for 7 or 12 years Living Language 2 75 hrs/yr 35 000 (upper secondary school) for 3 years Advanced 180 hrs/yr 17110 LL2 for 2 to 4 years

French in Vietnam is broken down into two curricula (Living Language 1 and Living Language 2) and from a didactical point of view based on four distinct streams. Maintaining this diversity makes it possible to match the supply with the demand in each province and take into account the resources available, but more importantly to maintain, with a base level of nearly 200,000 learners, an honorable dissemination of the French language in the educational system. In 2006, the 1,610 teachers of these curricula account for approximately 4 percent of foreign language teachers in Vietnam.

In University or Advanced Study Programs While preparing young Vietnamese to continue their higher education in France or in francophone space, the variety of curricula for French instruction also enables a variety of directions to be taken in the higher education sector in Vietnam, which now embodies over 17,000 students learning French.They include:

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- 22 percent in the FUFs (Filières Universitaires Francophones / Francophone University Streams): civil and urban engineering, agronomy/ biothech/ agribusiness, economics and management, geography and tourism, medicine and health, law, computer science and new technology, chemistryenvironment. - 33 percent of the seven French departments and two teacher training colleges that provide the basic pre-service training of French teachers. - 45 percent are pursuing various studies with French as an optional subject or LL2, in various streams of excellence supported by France and multilateral cooperation: the Hanoi Polytechnical Institute, the

Advanced School of Civil Engineering in Hanoi, the Polytechnical School of the University of Da Nang,the Polytechnical School of the National University of HCMC, the CFVG of the Advanced School of National Economics in Hanoi, the Francophone Computer Sciences Institute of Hanoi, the France-Vietnam Law Institute or the French University Poles (National Universities of Hanoi and HCMC).

Linguistic Skills Development for Personal or Professional Projects For some years now, in response to the specific demand for language instruction or skills development, other structures that teach French have sprung up in Vietnam with the support of French cooperation: - Linguistic Courses to Obtain Certificates or Diplomas Considered as a must to obtain a scholarship and tied in with the validation of the programs offered by francophone universities, DELF/DALF certificates or the TCF assessment (knowledge of French test) are a major motivation to study French. Thus, all of the French language teaching or training centers in Vietnam (five centers for French, one institute for cultural exchanges with France, two advanced schools of foreign language, eight teacher training faculties, two centers for specialized French, 11 institutions linked to the medical French program, 41 francophone university chains) offer learners in their catchment areas a level of training that includes preparation for these examinations. Nevertheless,there is a decrease noted in the number of enrolments for the new DELF certifications. This is due in part to the increasing competition from the “knowledge of French” test (TCF) required by the Center for Study in France prior to a student’s departure for study in France. There is also a lack of qualified staff in the high end of these diplomas. - Learning French for Specific Purposes Such training programs (preparation for specialized French examinations, training of professional interpreters and translators, French for medical staff) are widely sought after by Vietnamese students who need to round out their university studies with professional, degree-earning training, as well as by professionals and managerial staff. Thus, in addition to an original “French-style”teaching of French at the Hanoi French Cultural Center and the IDECAF (Institut d’échanges culturels avec la France / Institute for Cultural Exchanges with France) in

HCMC,three major pillars of specialty French training have been developing over the last several years: - The Center for Continuing Training in Specialty French (Centre de Formation Continue en Français de Spécialité – CFC), which offers courses to prepare for Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIP) examinations and handles a flow of 750 students per session throughout the year (two sessions annually), divided up into some thirty classes. - The Training Center for Interpreters and Translators (Centre de formation d’interprètes et de traducteurs –

32 clubs in Vietnam: NORTH: Association d’Amitié Vietnam-France – AAVF Hanoï Cercle des Anciens Elèves Francophones - CAEF Hanoï Club Anciens Stagiaires Techniques - CASTEF Hanoï Cercle des Francophones de Hanoï Centre Unifié des Amis de la Francophonie -CUAF Hanoï Club des Amis (Hanoï) Jouons avec le français – JAF Hanoï Clé d’or Hanoï Club étudiants francophones - ES d’Architecture Hanoï Cercle francophone de Hoa Xa- Ha Tay Cercle francophone de Hai Duong Filière de Médecine de Hai Phong Espace francophone de l’Hôpital Viet Tiep- Hai Phong Cercle Unesco Francophone de Hai Phong Cercle francophone « 19-5 » de Hai Phong CENTER: Centre de la francophonie de Vinh (Côtes d’Armor) Cercle francophone de Hue Cercle francophone de Da Nang Association d’Amitié franco-vietnamienne de Quang Binh Cercle francophone de Tam Ky-Quang Nam-Da Nang SOUTH: Cercle francophone de Da Lat Association des francophones de Khanh Hoa (AFK) Cercle Francophone de Nha Trang – CFNT Association des admirateurs de Yersin Maison de la Francophonie Espace francophone LOTUS Cercle francophone de Sa Dec Cercle francophone de Cao Lanh Cercle francophone de la province de Tien Giang Cercle francophone de Ben Tre Cercle des élèves du lycée de Soc Trang Club francophone de Can Tho CFC

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5,529 membres 900 350 400 180 400 60 100 25 60 15 160 126 40 20 200 140 103 430 60 25 60 28 15 700 400 35 25 80 17 95 250 30

CFIT) offers a two-year program for high-achieving students who have their high school leaving certificate plus 4, qualifying them for the national translator-terminologist diploma and the conference interpreter diploma. - Medical French: 11 medical institutions or faculties of medicine provide evening courses to over 500 learners (nurses,pharmacists,students from faculties of medicine and doctors in particular, who are candidates for the FFI program (Faisant Fonction d’Interne).

PROMOTION AND DISSEMINATION OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE - International Francophony Days provide an opportunity to put together a concerted program of events at the level of the Francophone Embassies,Delegations and Institutions Group (GADIF), coordinated by the regional delegation of the International Organization of Francophony (OIF). These days are highlighted by events throughout the country,initiated by a large number of schools,associations and institutions that receive various forms of assistance from the Embassy such as support for the organization of competitions or festivities. - Throughout the year, standby and follow-up activities are also conducted for the 32 francophone clubs and associations found throughout the country. - As for the media, cooperation projects with the national media also enable effective promotion of francophony: educational programs, event reports (celebrations, competitions, etc.) that are telecast over the national television or on the education channel VTV2 and broadcast on the air on national radio VOV. - At the same time, a coordinated effort is being made to highlight such things as the twinning of schools with territorial communities.Currently there is a list of over thirty affiliations between French and Vietnamese institutions for the bilingual program.

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Based on existing programs, this project aims to strengthen the institutional capacities of the three countries in the francophone zone of Southeast Asia to lay a foundation for linguistic policies to ensure the promotion of French and train qualified francophone persons able to fit into the existing and emerging sectors of the labor market.

Partnerships and cooperation arrangements: Rounding this out is the synergic involvement of several technical and financial partners: the Francophone University Agency (AUF), the International Organization of Francophony (OIF),WallonieBruxelles, the government of Québec, as well as support from various local and territorial communities (Côtes d’Armor, Poitou-Charentes, Rhône-Alpes, Île-deFrance, etc.) This has been of particular benefit to bilingual instruction over the last 12 years, the MOET has validated the setting up of a national plan for the enhancement of French in the regional and multipartner framework of a new FSP project “VALOFRASE: Valorisation du français en Asie du Sud-Est” (Enhancement of French in Southeast Asia).

Support from the Embassy is therefore continuing throughout 2007-2009 with a dovetailing of the former project for the support of French language instruction (2001 to 2005) with the new regional framework of VALOFRASE, with the following objectives at the national level: -

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Stabilize the bilingual program, coach the revitalization of French LL1 and continue support of the boost given to LL2 (high school/ university; private/public). Ensure the future of pre-service and on-the-job training by strengthening the regional francophone university space. Promote the francophone employment sector. For more information: Marie-Josée Vidal, Cooperation Attaché, L'EspaceHanoi CCF Email: [email protected]

Cooperation in the Audiovisual Field Initiatives led by the French Embassy in Vietnam in the audiovisual field are far from limited to the dissemination of French movies. It has a far vaster overall mission:

Promoting the Motion Picture with All Its Diversity To achieve this objective, numerous wide-screen movie showings are put on in Hanoi throughout the year (at L’Espace-CCF, the Cinéclub of the Vietnamese Filmmakers’ Association, the National Cinematography Center, etc.), in Ho Chi Minh City (IDECAF, Cinébox), in Hue and Da Nang.

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The scheduled movies are generally subtitled locally (in French and/or Vietnamese) so that none of the quality of the movies is lost and to contribute to a friendly mixing of publics at every session.A hundred or so different films (fictional, documentary, cartoon,

etc.) are thereby shown each year in the French cultural network in Vietnam. Moreover, to go along with and reinforce the impact of these different operations, French officials are regularly invited to introduce the films to the public. In 2006, during the second installment of the French film festival “Panorama Cannes,” producers Tony Gatlif and Denis Dercourt and actress Déborah François came to introduce their films in Vietnam. The same year,99 screenings of this nature were held in Hanoi (for a total audience of 13,543) and 87 screenings in Ho Chi Minh City (for a total audience of 7,100). The French centers out in the provinces also received considerable support for their programming in 2006, with the holding of major film events in Da Nang (five screenings for 882 viewers) and Hue (60 showings and 2,418 viewers in 2006).

Considerable attention was given to the promotion of Vietnamese movie making. The Embassy supported the promotion and dissemination of Vietnamese films both abroad (in France in particular) and in its own cultural network in Vietnam. This made it possible to get several firsttime productions by young directors out before a wide audience, such as “Living in Fear” by Bui Thac Chuyen and “Pao’s Story” by Ngô Quang Hai, who were invited to L’Espace to introduce their films in 2007.

Enhancing the Offer of French Audiovisual, Musical and Motion Picture Programs For several years now, this aspect of French cooperation has been supporting development projects of CFI (Canal France International), TV5 and RFI (Radio France Internationale) in Vietnam. These operators have made it possible to disseminate many French programs (audiovisual or musical) in Vietnam directly or through local replays. Additionally, in liaison with UNIFRANCE, the Embassy has enjoyed quality contacts with the main distributors and operators of foreign movies in Vietnam despite the fact that this is a newly emerging sector. French music is present on the airwaves in Vietnam thanks to Francophony Diffusion which has made its CDs available for various VOV programs. French and francophone music is thus on the air in Vietnam (AM and FM) for about three hours a week.

Supporting Vietnamese Audiovisual and Motion Picture Creation • Help to promote Vietnamese cinema in the francophone world such as through film festivals (Clermont-Ferrand, Vesoul, Créteil, Namur, Amiens, Deauville,Vaux-en-Velin). • Assist the organization of training workshops in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,as well as the project “10 months, 10 short feature films” by TPD, an association of young talent under the Association of Vietnamese Filmmakers. • Publication in Vietnamese of French reference books on moving-making techniques. • Back-up assistance for production using resources provided by the francophone world: to date, six Vietnamese feature films have received support from the Fonds Sud (Developing Countries Fund) for cinema. • Make a scholarship available for study at the La Fémis Summer Program (National Film School of France). • Facilitate things so that Vietnamese producers and directors can access francophone production and distribution assistance, such as the Fonds Sud.

Coaching Vietnamese Media Development L’Espace has been providing assistance for many years for the training of Vietnamese journalists and media professionals. This support led to the establishment in 2003 of the Skills Development Center for Vietnamese Journalists and the awarding of many study scholarships to francophone journalists. (See below.) For more information: Fabrice Turri, Audiovisual Attaché, L’Espace-Hanoi CCF Email: [email protected]

Skills Development Program for Vietnamese Journalists

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Since the early 1990s French cooperation has been funding many training activities for Vietnamese journalists whether French-speaking or not, involving the print media, radio, television and now

the Internet. In the light of the results achieved, the Vietnamese Journalists’ Association (Association des Journalistes

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Vietnamiens – AJV) expressed the wish to receive assistance from France to set up within it a long-term continuing education structure known as the Skills Development Center for Vietnamese Journalists (SDCJ). In response, an FSP project with an initial envelope of € 911,569 has been operating for over three years now in cooperation with the Advanced School of Journalism (École Supérieure de Journalisme – ESJ) in Lille. The purpose is to support the development and reach of this center by improving the quality and relevance of the instruction it provides particularly in the audiovisual and multimedia sectors and by helping to establish a nucleus of trainers from the principal editorial offices and schools in Vietnam. This project is national in scope (now involving over 450 journalists) and is geared to promote the role of journalists in Vietnamese society and to enhance the general level of the profession.

This is a three-point project: -

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Holding skills development and trainer training workshops. The provision of digital audiovisual equipment (television,radio,multimedia) adapted to the needs of the Vietnamese professionals. Setting up a journalism resource center, including the regular production of school journals on various themes (tourism development,the Festival of Hue,Agent Orange,AIDS and drug addiction),as well as the publication in Vietnamese of two instructional reference books.

The FSP was extended to December 13, 2007 in order to round out the concluding activities:continue work on the publication of guidebooks on journalism, develop a circular outlining the SDCJ training options available and hold further trainer training sessions on a regional basis. For more information: Audiovisual and Media Office, L’Espace-Hanoi CCF Email: [email protected]

Maintaining Cultural Diversity by Promoting Contemporary Creation and Enhancement of Vietnam’s Heritage Cultural Diversity and Promotion of Contemporary Creation

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The cultural and artistic initiatives of the Embassy are based on the promotion and enhancement of contemporary creation based on three major pillars: contemporaneity/culture and economics/culture and heritage, with priority focus on the visual arts field and contemporary dance. A particular effort is being put forth in the direction of the circus and street arts along with architecture in cooperation with the concerned Vietnamese institutions. In 2007 its programming will continue to highlight the creation of First French Spring in Hanoi, a multi-

disciplinary festival,and Image Month in Ho Chi Minh City, which will be major meeting places of French and French-Vietnamese contemporary creation. Innovation in the fields of theater, “now” music and jazz in particular continues to be privileged as well as cooperation programs for symphony music, photography and video creation. An ongoing priority is the promotion of exchanges among contemporary French and Vietnamese artists. The directions are determined by the volition shared

with our Vietnamese partners to achieve a threshold of excellence in our initiatives for operation and dissemination in one or more given fields. The promotion of long-term cooperation arrangements with prestigious artists and/or well-known cultural institutions - Ballet Atlantique Régine Chopinot / Xavier Rist, Poitou-Charentes orchestra, the French Fashion Institute, the Advanced National School of Photography in Arles - is also an essential criteria.The third major factor is the need to offer new fields in contemporary creation in Vietnam (hip-hop dancing, electronic music,video creation,new circus,etc.).With such long-term feature initiatives and putting on one-time events, a permanent tie-in can be maintained with the ebullient situation that prevails in the various fields of the arts that we are supporting. The Embassy chose to diversify the artistic choices so as to present a broader array of contemporary French creation while developing things in cultural areas that had not previously been given much attention. The Embassy initiates and supports projects and productions resulting from artistic cooperation between the two countries. This is shown in co-productions guided by the Embassy for the fourth installment of the Festival of Hue: Cercles de Sable (Sand Circles),a theater play put on by the Tuong National Theater and the Monte-Charge Theater in Pau; The Memory. Drought and Rain. Volume 2,the latest choreographic creation of Ea Sola with 16 dancers from the Vietnam Opera Ballet; Tim Gio (Search for the Wind), a musical work performed by the Mezcal Jazz Unit and four popular jazz musicians in Vietnam. Cultural initiatives are in keeping with a project approach that gives special consideration to multiyear partner programs that enable a genuine skills and expertise transfer. The Embassy maintains and develops a close cooperation relationship with the local authorities in order to put on activities and events that are closely in line with their expectations.

“Young Looks”Competition Established first in 2001 in partnership with the Fine Arts Association of Vietnam, this nation-wide competition is contributing to the emergence of young,talented plastic artists. The prize winner receives a three-month course at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (National Advanced School of Fine Arts) in Paris, which plays a pivotal role in promoting plastic arts in Vietnam under the guidance of the Embassy.

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Diversity and creativity are the bywords when lining up visual art events. Throughout the year, the Embassy chose to organize a series of exhibitions on the theme of “Looks,”showcasing the work of French and Vietnamese artists.The idea is to nurture cultural dialogue and mutual interchange among the cultures and artistic disciplines. Contemporary creation in all its forms is highlighted: video, installations, paintings; examples of this approach, video exhibition,selection of video creations of junior artists supported by Le Fresnoy (VidéoFresnoy exhibition put on in April 2006) and the photography of Liza Nguyen on memory (Surfaces). Generally speaking, both in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, exhibitions offer a diversified panorama of contemporary creation with alternating shows by French and Vietnamese artists. Diversified programming is offered in the performing arts sector. Several shows with a high artistic rating for the general public are regularly put on by Vietnamese and French performers: Compagnie Adrien M, with Circasia, for circus arts; concerts by Julien Loura and his quartet, Bojan Z for jazz; Astonvilla for “now” music; theater reading of excerpts from books of Marguerite Duras by Yann André for theater. The Embassy also moved forward in developing the dissemination of scientific and technological cultures, promoting economics and social sciences, with special attention to events featuring academic discussions. Lecture series are frequently put on featuring distinguished guest speakers.

For more information: * Hanoi Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché, Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center Email:[email protected] Vanina Sopsaisana,Deputy Cultural Attaché Email:[email protected] * Ho Chi Minh City: Jany Bourdais, Cultural Attaché, Consulate General of France Email: [email protected] * Hue : Gaelle Le Yaouanc, Director, French Cultural Center Email: [email protected]

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France a Central Figure in Festivals in Vietnam: French Springtime in Hanoi – Festival of Hue – Image Month in Ho Chi Minh City Driven by the meeting of cultures in both countries, French cultural cooperation in Vietnam focuses on contemporary creation. In 2007 two events were initiated in this framework, the First French Springtime in Hanoi and Image Month in Ho Chi Minh City, both of which are significant meeting places for artistic creation in all its forms. In 2008, the Embassy will share in the fifth installment of the Festival of Hue that it got underway in 2000. The exceptional creativity and wealth of artistic heritage in both France and Vietnam are an obvious basis for developing cooperation projects throughout the year and promoting the major flow of creators and professionals from both countries,with special emphasis on French Springtime in Hanoi.

First French Springtime The First French Springtime in Hanoi is a multifaceted event devoted to contemporary creation involving various artistic forms that get people together and promote dialogue. This event is held every second year alternating with the Festival of Hue. It showcases the various aspects of our cultural cooperation in Vietnam. Bold artistic forms and esthetics are merged in an original colorful setting, alongside innovative productions from France that reflect the ingenuity and dynamics of the contemporary stage in our country. This new event is one that enables greater enrichment and anchoring of dialogue between our cultures, highlighting both familiar and unfamiliar contemporary expressions, while promoting exchanges among artists and creators of the two countries. It is proving to be a highly successful tool in terms of cultural diversity and France-Vietnam friendship.

Image Month Image Month is designed to display the principles of discovery, exchange and comparison of works by

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French, Vietnamese and Southeast-Asian artists, to showcase works in various mediums and thus provide a broad reflection of the diversity of contemporary production, emphasize popular themes chosen by young Vietnamese artists (cityscapes, portraits), thereby putting in place a genuine basis for interchange and comparison and stressing the notion of a educational element in a very broad sense, which is essential at all stages of the programming.

Festival of Hue The Festival of Hue was first put on in 2000 at the incentive of the Embassy of France in Vietnam, CulturesFrance and Thua Thien-Hue province. The idea is to generate a major cultural event in Vietnam highlighting the architectural heritage of the city,the citadel in particular,and setting a “national stage”for contemporary creation. This biannual festival enjoys international renown and attracts artists from abroad and all corners of Vietnam. It has become a melting pot of passion for heritage, tradition and contemporary creation, a rendez-vous of cultures wherein creation and tradition intertwine in a space fraught with memory, where the alchemy of interpretations is attracting more and more people with a broader range of interests.France supports the event through its active involvement in the programming designed to display the fruitage of its cultural cooperation in Vietnam and showcase productions originating from France.

For more information: * Hanoi Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché, Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center Email:[email protected] Vanina Sopsaisana,Deputy Cultural Attaché Email:[email protected] * Ho Chi Minh City: Jany Bourdais, Cultural Attaché, Consulate General of France Email: [email protected]

Support for Cultural Development in Vietnam

Thanks to implementation of a number of crosscutting training programs between Vietnam and France, the “Support for Cultural Development in Vietnam” project is training operators belonging to a new economics of culture, one which involves in the technical, artistic and management spheres in order to provide the live entertainment sector with the means to become a viable, standalone economic factor of development. This ambition requires the putting in place of training for cultural show technicians, performers and managers who will be able to help structure this major sector. Since it began in 2003, this FSP project has received total funding in the amount of € 1.4 million and has three key thrust areas:

Training in Entertainment Technology A Center for Training in Entertainment Technology was established in the Hanoi School of Theater and Cinema. Organized with the support of a specialized French agency, the training program is enabling technicians to hone their skills in audio, light and stage floor control. At the conclusion of their training they are qualified to work with major cultural events and improve the quality of the creation itself, audience intake and dissemination of all forms of live show throughout the country and internationally.

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Artistic Training Cooperation between France and Vietnam has been going on for several years in the sectors of contemporary dance and symphony music in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. It is supported by holding workshops with prestigious French performers in Vietnam as well as having Vietnamese performers spend time in France in order to develop top-quality artistic ensembles.

Cultural Engineering Managers in the culture sector working in various parts of the country with various institutions and cultural ventures are given training based on French expertise while being observant of Vietnamese specificities.Such training is helping decision-makers to work the new legal and economic challenges confronting the sector into their professional approach and acquire the managerial techniques needed for the smooth running of a cultural institution or department.

For more information: Valérie Lesbros, Project Manager Email: [email protected]

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Enhancing Vietnam’s Museographical Heritage After the first year spent identifying museographical directions and programs, support for the layout of exhibition halls is now focusing on scenography studies that are expected to be completed by late 2007. That means that during 2008 work will get underway on renovation operations or new layouts in Vietnam’s museums: opening of modeling halls and photo libraries in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, along with the preparation of exhibits for newly established museums. Training programs are being continued in parallel and will be fleshed out in 2007 with the setting up of two computer databases for the management of collections, overall refurbishment of the stone collections in the modeling halls of the Cham Museum and Museum of History and the putting in place of public observatories in five museums. The FSP project “Renewing and Enhancing Vietnam’s Museographical Heritage” got underway in the summer of 2005. This cooperation arrangement brings together expertise and training programs to help with museum upgrading and creation while building staff capacity. Five of Vietnam’s leading museums are cooperating with prestigious French cultural institutions. With support from the expert staff of the Quai Branly Museum, the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi and the Dak Lak Museum in Buon Ma Thuot (central highlands region) are expected to have two major extensions put on,the first to house collections of Southeast Asia,the second the history and peoples of the Dak Lak region. At the same time, Guimet National Museum of Asian Art and the French School of Asian Studies (École française d’Extrême-Orient – EFEO) are working with the Da Nang Museum of Cham Sculptures and the Ho Chi Minh City Museum of History to set up two modeling halls to house restored collections in a new scenography. The Nicéphore Nièpce Museum of Photography (Chalons-sur-Marne) and the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City are working to come up with a digitalized photo library to ensure the preservation of photo collections.

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Some ten different subjects will be taught and over 70 senior management staff of Vietnamese museums will be trained. They in turn will transfer their newly acquired knowledge to staff in other museums of Vietnam.

For more information: Emmanuel Fuentes, Project Manager Email: [email protected]

Multilateral Cultural Cooperation The Embassy is developing activities with its institutional and diplomatic partners from other countries present in Vietnam.In addition to the many operations that were carried out with institutions belonging to the francophone sphere,the Embassy is also carrying out cultural projects with other European countries represented, as well as with the Delegation of the European Commission. Not to be overlooked are projects organized with the Goethe Institute under the “Elysée”fund.Multilateral cultural cooperation is a particularly strong feature in two groups: Francophony: Francophone Embassies, Delegations and Institutions Group (Groupe des Ambassades, Délégations et Institutions francophones – GADIF). On a yearly basis since 2003, francophony is celebrated throughout the month of March by means of many events put on in Vietnam’s major cities.In cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the GADIF determines the programming to be featured during the month-long francophony celebration.The key events are: • Francophone Film Festival • Official Francophony Evening, March 20

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National Competitions Concerts Exhibitions Conferences

Europe : The group of European Culture Officers. Throughout the year, various events are held under the aegis of the Delegation of the European Commission in Vietnam with the participation of the European countries that are represented. France uses its cultural institution to make an essential contribution to the successful holding of the key events and promoting the Europe of the 27. - European Jazz Festival - Europe Day - European Film Festival - European Book Fair

For more information: Hubert Olié, Cultural Attaché – Director of L’EspaceHanoi French Cultural Center Email:[email protected]

The Nguyen Van Vinh Publishing Aid Program (PAP) The Nguyen Van Vinh Publishing Aid Program (PAP) was set up in 1990 to assist Vietnamese publishers who are in a long-term commitment to publish works of various French authors in French, Vietnamese or bilingually: literature and fiction, the humanities and social studies, science and technology, youth, art and culture, etc.

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In a country that has traditionally held to the written word as a vector of culture and knowledge,but where poor purchasing power is limiting access to books, the PAP highlights three priorities:

The assistance given by the Cultural and Cooperation Center of the French Embassy in Vietnam varies according to the project submitted, but it never exceeds 50 percent of the total cost of publication. It generally covers all or part of the loading cost and paper and/or the cost of translation. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs covers the copyright. The partner publisher is responsible for the other remaining costs of publication and handles the distribution.

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Reduce the selling price of books by 20 to 40 percent compared to the market price and ensure free distribution to the main public reading facilities in Vietnam.

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See to the quality of the translations published and encourage publishers to recognize the skills of professional translators by paying them appropriately. Support local publishers in their efforts to professionalize their trade by having definite editorial policies and complying with copyright laws.

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The PAP is a key component of France’s culture dissemination policy in Vietnam and has led to the publishing of nearly 400 titles in 16 years. In 2006, 38 projects were supported by this program. These translations are having a real impact in a country where the French reading public remains small. It comes in response to a demand from Vietnamese

Nguyen Van Vinh (1882-1936) is an iconic figure in the history of French-Vietnamese cultural exchange. He was a journalist, translator, publisher and printer and held the position of senior editor for a number of the firstVietnamese newspapers to use the Quoc Ngu writing system as well as magazines published in French such as Annam Nouveau which he founded in 1931. He played an active part in spreading French culture in Vietnam through his translations of many French authors such as Molière, Victor Hugo, Balzac, Alexandre Dumas and La Fontaine, thus giving generations of young Vietnamese the opportunity to come in touch with French thinking and culture.

readers who enjoy or actually prefer books that were originally written in French. In this way the program has put alongside classical authors such as Victor Hugo, Balzac, Molière other writers such as Didier Deaninckx and André Velter who were recently invited to Vietnam and Louis-Ferdinand Céline,Daniel Pennac, Françoise Dolto, Philippe Claudel, François Weyergans. In keeping with the guideline that puts priority on contemporary literature,social studies and the humanities, the PAP has also been working on a major program over the last two years to publish youth-oriented books with the support of the FSP Fund “Giving Prominence to the Written Word in Southeast Asia”(Valorisation de l’écrit en Asie du SudEst – VALEASE).

For more information: Do Thi Minh Nguyet Program Officer, L’Espace-Hanoi CCF Email: [email protected]

Giving Prominence to the Written Word in Southeast Asia

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The FSP developmental project VALEASE was started in 2005 with the key objectives of strengthening regional cooperation on a long-term basis in the area of the written word, improving technical skills and networking stakeholders in the book industry, while at the same time lending its support to public reading in Southeast Asia.

The training program for stakeholders in the book industry that started in 2005 has been continued. In addition to on-the-job language instruction, two “Paul Boudet” courses were held. The first one was directed to book sellers while the second, held in cooperation with the National Documentation and Scientific Information Center, focused on training librarians and documentalists. These training programs made it possible to raise the awareness of Vietnamese professionals regarding French technology and expertise in the book field and consolidate the development of a network of francophone professionals. In this networking approach, funding was provided from VALEASE for the Director of the National Library of Vietnam in Hanoi and the Director of the Library of General Sciences in Ho Chi Minh City to attend the 100th Congress of the Association of French Librarians in Paris. A parallel initiative was conducted for Vietnamese publishers in order to encourage the publication of books for young people, notably in synergy with the

Embassy’s Publishing Aid Program (PAP). Thus 40 books were published in 2006. One Vietnamese publisher was invited to the Young People’s Book Fair in Montreuil in 2006. The program is also involved in the archive sector. A guidebook on documents kept at the Hanoi Archive Center No. 2 was published. Two Vietnamese archivists were given training in France through the “Courants” course arranged by the Ministry of Culture. The program for the digitizing of old French-language books on the shelves of libraries in the region was pursued. The long-range goal is to build a digitized library of heritage collections. In 2006, about 2,500 books and other documents were digitized at the National Library in Hanoi,in the Library of General Sciences in Ho Chi Minh City as well as at the Institute for Cultural Exchanges with France in Ho Chi Minh City. In the latter establishment, an initial lot of 500 digitized books is now accessible to the public using a

search engine. A database is being made containing the notes for all digitized books in the region. VALEASE also provided support in the form of expertise for the establishment of a space for young people at the Hanoi French Cultural Center and for renovation of the media center in the Institute for Cultural Exchanges with France in Ho Chi Minh City.

For more information: * Hanoi Do Thi Minh Nguyet Program Officer, L’Espace-Hanoi CCF Email: [email protected] * Ho Chi Minh City Patrick Coustance Cooperation Attaché, SCAC, Ho Chi Minh City Email: [email protected]

Media Center Plan In Hanoi The media center located in L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center is the largest in all of Vietnam for the number of contemporary French documents. It makes a collection of 20,000 books, 3,000 audiovisual documents and a hundred or so French periodicals available to the public. With a view to strengthening its role as a benchmark nationwide, the “Media Center Plan”was implemented in 2006 to put contemporary France closer to the Vietnamese people, youth in particular, while at the same time upgrading its facilities.

France in all mediums required for outreach in a media center-clearinghouse devoted to France. 3. Training the staff by means of training sessions set up by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 4. Acquisition of an antitheft system: walk-through scanner and security stickers.

The project covers the following; 1. Structuring the facility for youth at L’Espace: developing a extensive collection for youth including fictional works/documentaries in all mediums for children and teenagers; acquiring good-quality, specific concept French modular furniture as well as items to furnish the kiddies’ corner. 2. Setting up a reference collection on contemporary

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As an integral part of the project scheme, the media center is at the heart of France’s cultural outreach and

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cooperation action in Vietnam. The “Media Center Plan” fits in with the strategy of solidarity and influence that France is leading in Vietnam. It is cognizant of the realities and priorities of present-day Vietnam that is on a path of constant and fast-paced change and is therefore putting emphasis on contemporary issues and youth. For more information: Hubert Olié,Cultural Attaché Director of L’Espace-Hanoi French Cultural Center Email:[email protected]

In Ho Chi Minh City:The IDECAF Media Center

In the next few weeks the Center’s catalogue will be put on line. An electronic newsletter will provide information for regular members and broaden awareness about the center. The IDECAF’s “Indochina Collection” of 5,000 books received assistance from the VALEASE project with its focus on protecting and enhancing old Frenchlanguage books found in the libraries of Vietnam. All of the data sheets for the Indochina Collection have been put in the Media Center’s computer catalogue and a selection of 500 books have been digitized in image mode.They can now be consulted on location using an interface designed to allow key-word searches. An exhibition was put on at the Image Pole to introduce excerpts from digitized flat pictures.

Established with financial assistance in the amount of € 70,000 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the “Media Center Plan” and with technical expertise mobilized in the VALEASE project, the IDECAF Media Center has a very positive report at the conclusion of its first year of operation, based on the number of members, now 2,160, of which 80 percent are Vietnamese. In 2006, additional “Media Center Plan” funding of € 18,000 enabled the launching of a communication and animation policy intended to widen out the audience base: -

Production and dissemination of communication documents. Organization of school tours. Setting up regular animations (lectures by writers, book readings, etc.). Exhibitions.

For more information: Dominique d’Ollone, Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Attaché, SCAC, Ho Chi Minh City Email: [email protected]

Governance and the Rule of Law Cooperation in the Legal Field and the VietnameseFrench House of Law When Vietnam began opening its doors in 1986, updating its legal system and strengthening the rule of law were immediately identified as top strategic priorities for French cooperation.

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In extending its cooperation with Vietnam to the legal field, France is desirous of helping the country integrate the international community and also open up access to legal provisions for all in the country: improve the quality of professional lawyer services,

support the Vietnamese government in setting an order of priority for standards and the codification process, advocate legal security through the stability of laws in force, strengthen provisions for the enforcement of court decisions, define the scope of the various administrative jurisdictions and encourage administrative transparency.

constitutional state (rule of law), notably a computerized police record system, an efficient personal identity system, a land registry, a register of moveable and fixed assets and a trade register.It is already playing a key role to this end in two projects: -

Mapmaking. The international branch of the National Geographic Institute (Institut géographique national – IGN-FI) deployed a four-year support program that ended in October 2004, linked with the Emerging Nations Reserve Fund (Réserve Pays Émergents – RPE) for € 1.6 M, in cooperation with the General Department for Land Administration (GDLA) and supported the Vietnam Remote Sensing Center: mapmaking techniques, satellite images,training sessions (ARPEGE project).

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Legal support. The House of Law arranged several seminars to enable Vietnam to develop an efficient, consistent system of registering guarantees and rights, notably with regard to the Civil Code, land reform and securities law. The viability of such a system is closely linked to computerizing the notary offices of the country, an initiative to which France is contributing through the FSP project “Modernizing the Notarial Profession in Vietnam” from October 2003 to September 2008 with an envelope of € 1.5 M.

The key tool for our cooperation with Vietnam in the legal field is the House of Law that was established in February 1993 based on a bilateral agreement. An amended version of this agreement was just signed in March 2007 by the Ministers of Justice of both countries. The House of Law has been working on a dual mission over the last 14 years: providing assistance in drafting Vietnamese laws and training legal professionals. Every year it holds three regional seminars and a dozen expert workshops to appraise the various draft laws on the drawing board, six training sessions for legal professionals: magistrates, lawyers and notaries, and provides instruction in legal French on its premises. The amended agreement gives it the means to adapt its initiatives more closely with the new priorities of the government of Vietnam. The House of Law receives funding from various sources of French official development assistance (ODA): the Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP), funds allocated to the Embassy, regional funds and technical assistance. France is also playing the role of coach and focal point for the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice in the framework of the master plan for cooperation relations between Vietnam and the European Union (EU-VN Master Plan), adopted by decision of the Prime Minister of Vietnam in June 2005. In this capacity, it acts as a relay with the other Member Sates for reform and cooperation priorities identified with the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice. France is also endeavoring to share in the development of the legal tools necessary for the operation of a

For more information: Emmanuelle Boulestreau Deputy Cooperation and Cultural Affairs Counselor Email:[email protected]

Administrative Reform in Vietnam

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Public administration reform is one of the priorities of the Vietnamese government that it has been working on since the late 1990s in a government

modernization process with the support of the international community.

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Improving the administrative management of the Vietnamese government through senior staff training is therefore also one of the cross-cutting priorities of French cooperation in Vietnam highlighted in the Partnership Framework Document. In this area,France is offering assistance for Vietnamese government and administrative reform, government decentralization, strengthening local powers, defending the rule of law and public freedoms and preventing corruption. By maintaining an annual program of scholarships for long or short study trips to the National School of Administration (École nationale d’administration – ENA), France wants to provide special support to initiatives promoting the decentralization of certain fields of jurisdiction by having them delegated to the 64 provinces, notably by training local government officials in their planning and management duties.

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With regard to financial administration, France is providing ongoing funding through the ADETEF for training sessions in its specialized elite schools: customs, taxation, banking, government accounting and government finance. Furthermore, French decentralized or non-governmental cooperation is also making available substantial support for Vietnam’s administrative reform. Indeed, virtually all projects being implemented by the territorial communities or NGOs include a major training component for officials on People’s Committees and for project partners.

For more information: Nguyen Huy Khanh, Program Officer, SCAC Email: [email protected]

France is also providing financial support for: -

nized jointly by the ENA and countries in the region, protocol internship). Police cooperation between the two countries, notably for technical training.

Training programs designed for leading officials in the Vietnamese government (seminar orga-

Modernizing the Notarial Profession in Vietnam The economic liberalization and rapid growth being experienced in Vietnam have resulted in a tremendous increase in transactions (contracts, real estate investments, mortgage credits). In a country that has made the choice to promote Romano-Germanic written law, notary offices are the surest way to get such transactions properly written up and authenticated. There are currently 135 such offices employing a staff of over one thousand professionals throughout the country. French-Vietnamese cooperation in the area of notary services started in 1993 at the incentive of the High Council for the Notarial Profession (Conseil supérieur du notariat – CSN) and was fleshed out by the signing of an initial bilateral funding agreement in 1995 and a grant from the FASEP (funding from the French Ministry of Economy and Finance) in 1997,plus funding in 2000-2001 from the CSN. Such funding assistance from France has made it possible to establish a comprehensive government computer network and put together a Vietnamese version of the MASTER software program to write up notarial instruments.

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The current Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP) assistance in the amount of €3.7 M was signed in October 2003.The contribution from the Vietnam government is € 2.2 M, of which 1.8 M is for capital investment and 0.4 M for resources enhancement in terms of staff and offices used by the concerned levels of administration. France’s contribution is € 1.5 M, and this amount is being used to fund technical assistance in the legal field,computer engineering and training. This project aims to make clear the prerogatives of notaries in Vietnam and give them an essential role in ensuring transaction security in the context of a buoyant economy and equip them with the tools they need to carry out these functions efficiently, reliably and expeditiously.The following was achieved: -

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A notary law on the organization of the profession and status of notaries was enacted on November 22, 2006, with provision for the gradual liberalization of the notarial profession. The MASTER software was installed and is operational in the 110 public offices; a further 25 offices will be equipped with it in 2007.

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Offices within a pilot area yet to be determined (Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City) will be put into a secure network by late 2007 or early 2008, enabling inter-office communication and communication with central record sites set up by the Vietnamese Ministry of Justice. Two web sites will be set up, one to facilitate dealings among the notaries themselves, financial institutions and the various levels of government, and the other to inform the public and assist them to handle certain notarial procedures on line.

For more information: Nguyen Huy Khanh, Program Officer, SCAC Email: [email protected]

Budgetary Reform In the context of the major economic and financial changes taking place in Vietnam, budget reform is a pervasive concern. A first law on the State budget was enacted in 1996 by the National Assembly.Five years later,deficiencies had become apparent in the law, mainly in the areas of transparency and accountability. A new Budget Law was enacted in 2002 and came into force on January 1, 2004. This law clarified the roles and responsibilities of the various public stakeholders, giving greater responsibilities and self-determination to the ministries as well as to local communities, while serving to promote accounting transparency. The budget procedure was streamlined, with a better balance of responsibilities and time frames for the preparation and enactment of the Budget Law. The Ministry of Finance prepares the draft budget legislation and submits it to the National Assembly for approval.The National Assembly reviews and approves the draft Budget Law, controls budget execution and adopts the regulatory statutes.However,a recent rise in nonbudget expenses is threatening this newly acquired transparency.

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Decentralization in the Vietnamese sense of the term is also proving to be more efficient thanks to capacity building of the local authorities and giving them greater responsibility, mainly in the area of tax collection and investment.

Implementation of the government’s Budget Law has strengthened the accounting role of the Treasury at the central and local levels for controlling income and expenses as well as accounts auditing. Nevertheless,difficulties remain in financial auditing, mainly at the local level and in the management of capital expenditures. The new law on government auditing enacted by the National Assembly in May 2005 made the Government Audit into a National Government Auditing Agency as of January 1, 2006 and put it under the authority of the National Assembly (which appoints the chairman thereof and steers its work). In the current context of Vietnam’s integration into international trade, a reassignment of the government’s income and expenses is underway. In order to guarantee budget stability, it will be necessary to redesign a number of financial instruments - income tax, inheritance, natural resources and VAT - partly because of the probable drop in customs duties that will be experienced with the country becoming a WTO member. The challenge will be to ensure sufficient State budget income for investment and social welfare, while containing government debt. At the same time, while the resource parameters continue to be broadly applied,an analytical thinking process regarding performance parameters should be put in place in the years to come,as well as a multiyear time horizon for expenditure forecasting. From

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this standpoint, the study of the departments of the Ministry of Planning and Investment with those of the Ministry of Finance for major projects is quite positive. Support offered by the “Economic Governance” FSP project that got underway in January 2003 is part and parcel of initiatives to bolster budget reform. France’s own experience is insightful in this regard as its Organic Law Respecting the Budget Law (LOLF) went into effect on January 1, 2006. The project has a four-and-a-half-year time frame. Its action framework is one of a kind due to the wide variety of players that it involves and the things that it is focusing on. Training and interchange programs via seminars, conferences, appraisal and study missions - in Vietnam and abroad - are being arranged in close

liaison with the three key partners: the Academy of Finance, the General Statistics Office and the National Assembly’s Economic and Budget Commission. Other partner institutions are also actively involved in what the project is doing (CISEP, ESEN, various Ministry of Finance directorates, etc.). Stakeholders on the French side include the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, the Senate, the European Group for Research in Public Finance (Groupement Européen de Recherches en Finances Publiques – GERFIP) and the Paris-Dauphine University.

For more information: Adrien Laroze, Project Coordinator Email: [email protected] or www.adetef.org.vn

Microfinance Cooperation France is working with the International Labor Organization (ILO) to deploy a Priority Solidarity Fund (FSP) bi/multilateral “Pilot Social Welfare Experiment” with a price tag of US$ 573,520.The ILO is coordinating this project in three countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia and Vietnam) for the purpose of extending the scope and efficiency of social welfare for all through the dissemination of the basic principles of microinsurance and other financial products for risk management. Priority is given to the special place occupied by women,as gender parity is considered as a factor in the elimination of inequalities and poverty reduction. As for Vietnam,the project officially got underway on May 20, 2003 in partnership with the Ministry of Labor,Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).The project is entitled “Extension of Microfinance and Microinsurance to Women in the Informal Sector.” Its purpose is the development of three financial risk management products in tandem with three Vietnamese microfinance organizations. It is slated to conclude in 2007.

insurance services to low-income households conducted in cooperation with the Ford Foundation (2006-2007). This research updates one of two studies carried out in 2003 on the savings, credit and insurance supply and demand and identifies innovative mechanisms and partnerships to extend access of poor households to savings and insurance services. > Technical support for three Vietnamese microfinance organizations to develop and pilot test three financial products for risk management: - A credit insurance product with the Ninh Phuoc village bank (Ninh Thuan province) in partnership with the State-owned insurance company Bao Viet. - A flexible voluntary savings product in partnership with the Women’s League microfinance organization TYM (Tao Yeu May) in Soc Son and Me Linh districts (Vinh Phuc province) just outside of Hanoi. - A mutual assistance fund with the Dong Trieu village bank (Quang Ninh province).

The key achievements of this project to date include:

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> A research study on extension of savings and

> Twelve specialized training sessions for microfinance institution staff (over 200 persons)

and microfinance organizations on the following themes: development of new financial products, principles of micro-insurance, financial analysis, market study, management and communication/customer service.With regard to management training, the project arranged for a trainer training course and four Vietnamese trainers are now providing yearly training programs. > Active involvement in a microfinance task force that includes various actors in the field and aims to promote good microfinance practices in Vietnam. This task force is now working to become institutionalized and is currently having regular talks with the State Bank of Vietnam, MOLISA and various funding agencies on technical matters relating to microfinance.

> A working paper entitled “Towards a Viable Microfinance Sector in Vietnam: Issues and Challenges,” considered to be a benchmark document for the government, funding agencies and microfinance stakeholders (2005). > A televised news story on microfinance, a knowledge-sharing workshop, visit of a Vietnamese delegation to the international conference in Paris “Expanding Access to Microfinance: Challenges and Actors,” on June 20 and 21, 2005 and a study tour to the Philippines (2004).

For more information: www.microfinance.org.vn

Coaching the Economic Transition The transition from a planned economy to a “socialist-oriented market economy”is one of the key development issues for Vietnam and is therefore commanding the attention of its leaders. The transition movement stems from the Doi Moi (Renewal) policy started in 1986 and took concrete shape in the form of an initial wave of reforms leading to a more liberal economic policy, such as opening up to foreign direct investments and gradually liberalizing foreign trade. On the international scene, Vietnam became a member of ASEAN in 1995 and APEC in 1998.It signed trade agreements with the European Union (1995) and the United States (2001). In December 2006, Vietnam filed its ratification instrument to become the 150th member of the World Trade Organization (in January 2007), a new step in the international economic integration process which can now be considered irreversible. Coaching Vietnam’s transition in this field is one of the priorities of French cooperation, the output being development of a body of cooperation initiatives in both the economic and legal fields.

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This issue puts us directly at the heart of changes and reform programs taking place in Vietnam. The government-owned sector still accounts for basically

half of the economy (51 percent of investments come from the State sector).The challenge is to move from a regulating process to harness activities to a regulating process designed to optimize the market economy. An FSP project“Support for Vietnam’s Integration into International Trade”was signed in late October 2002 on the occasion of the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s state visit to France.This project has a time frame of five years and a price tag of € 1.64 million to round out and extend the ongoing legislative work for Vietnam’s international economic integration (law on competition, trade, investment, etc.), and support the putting in place of adequate institutional arms. Upstream assistance is being given in terms of studies and research in order to assist senior

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management in the various levels of government in Vietnam to grasp as clearly as possible the different aspects of the economic transition and market mechanisms. Several awareness-raising initiatives for government and private decision-makers regarding the issues and challenges of Vietnam’s economic integration are also being carried out.All of these activities are under the aegis of ADETEF Vietnam (Assistance pour le développement des échanges en technologies économique et financière / Assistance for the Development of Economic and Financial Technology

Exchanges) with the cooperation of the National Committee for International Economic Cooperation (NCIEC). Various partner institutions are also actively involved in the technical implementation of this program (General Directorate of Competition under the Ministry of Trade, State Bank of Vietnam, Legal Directorate of the Ministry of Trade, etc.).

For more information: Fabienne Runyo, Project Coordinator Email: [email protected] www.adetef.org.vn

Fund for Expertise and Capacity Building (Fonds d’Expertise et de Renforcement des Capacités no. 1 – FERC1) In December 2006, the AFD granted € 1.5 million to the government of Vietnam to lay the groundwork for the Fund for Expertise and Capacity Building (Fonds d'Expertise et de Renforcement des Capacités n°1 – FERC 1). This was an extension of the Fund for Studies and Project Preparation (Fonds d’Études et de Préparation de Projets – FEPP). The use made of FEPP 3 showed the value of the instrument,as funds it provided were used at the rate of 36 percent for rural development,15 percent for the financial sector and 49 percent for infrastructure.The continuum of operations in the Partnership Framework Document and 2006-2010 Action Plan justify the extension of this grant assistance and it is furthermore required by the study programming agreed with the MPI and line ministries.

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The FERC is used to fund: (i) Project studies or appraisals for project or program identification, preparation or feasibility upstream from further assistance from the AFD. (ii) Technical assistance in charge of identification or preparation for AFD funding. (iii) Studies and isolated resident technical assistance not directly linked to funding assistance from the AFD. For more information: Email: [email protected] www.afd.fr

Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation France-Vietnam Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation French-Vietnamese non-governmental or proximity cooperation is a realm in which various territorial communities, public and private institutions and NGOs have been working since the early 1990s. It is an important aspect of the relationship between France and Vietnam. Vietnam is the second largest recipient of ODA from French territorial collectivities. In 2004, the outlay was € 3.69 M out of a total of € 51.05 M for the world. In 2005, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) co-funded operations in Vietnam’s non-governmental sector to the tune of € 988,398: € 221,521 to help 10 projects conducted by 6 communities and € 766,877 for 18 projects being implemented by over 17 NGOs. In the past 15 years, this cooperation has grown and taken on many forms. The Embassy of France has a record of 777 completed or ongoing projects involving 464 French partners and 208 Vietnamese partners being conducted in 62 of the 64 current provinces of Vietnam. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City alone take 41 percent of the projects, while the three central provinces of Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and Danang receive 17 percent. Only two provinces, Bac Giang and Dak Nong, have never been on the list of France-Vietnam cooperation projects. 1. Cooperation in the field of health is the focus of 23 percent of the proximity cooperation projects and involves many decentralized cooperation actors (universities, hospitals, research institutes and the like.) It is the broadest field of activity: rehabilitation of care facilities, primary health care, neonatology, nutrition,clinical psychology,gynecology,odontology, pneumology.

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There is a wholesome mix of governmental and nongovernmental health stakeholders, making this field both well-endowed with resources and dense as far

as cooperation is concerned. Approximately 130 cooperation projects have been catalogued: 25 agreements with hospitals and twenty or so with universities are carrying the brunt of the governmental cooperation arrangements, in particular in the sectors of training and hospital cooperation, along with decentralized cooperation arrangements and nearly a hundred different associations. 2. As far as higher education is concerned, nongovernmental cooperation essentially involves interuniversity agreements of which there are two categories: core agreements that feature provision for teacher and student exchanges and agreements that highlight training in the form of either delocalization of diplomas or paired curriculums in Vietnam and France. The regions, especially the regional councils of Poitou-Charentes and Rhône-Alpes, are particularly active in this area. 3. Francophony is very present in all decentralized cooperation initiatives. As such, it occupies about 7 percent of the total number of projects. A common form of partnership in this area is the twinning of French or francophone institutions with Vietnamese institutions, more particularly with those that have a program of bilingual classes. Based on figures supplied by the Francophony University Agency (AUF), nine such partnerships exist. A new one is being put together and six others are being considered. There are five affiliations with Hanoi, eight with Ho Chi Minh City,one with Nha Trang,one with Da Lat and one with Ha Tay. Various communities are intervening in standalone projects to support study in France or in the French language for certificate or degree purposes: - The General Council of Indre-et-Loire has authorized the Institute of Touraine to form a

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working relationship with the Hanoi University of Foreign Languages. The municipality of Montreuil set up a structure to teach French in high schools in Hai Duong and set up a center for French language instruction in that province. In 2003, the General Council of Côtes d’Armor in cooperation with the Côtes d’Armor-Vietnam Association established a Center for Francophony in the city of Vinh, Nghe An province, which is providing training and capacity building in the French language for teachers and professionals through intensive language courses.

4. In the field of research, territorial communities are fequently involved in research projects with the upfront partner being a laboratory or an institute.Based on the information available, the Aquitaine, RhôneAlpes, Nord-Pas de Calais regions and the territorial community of Corsica are supporting research projects, notably in the field of agriculture and disaster prevention as well as in marine resources. 5. The Embassy is developing co-funded scholarship programs in partnership with the French regions. These programs have been developing with the Îlede-France, Poitou-Charentes and Rhône-Alpes regions for several years now.The Nord-Pas de Calais region became involved in 2004.In 2006,46 students received regional academic scholarships for an amount totaling € 200,000 funded by the regions, with an additional € 30,000 being kicked in by the Embassy in the form of social security cover. 6. Five percent of projects are in the field of cultural exchanges, and the key stakeholders identified are: -

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The Poitou-Charentes region, which has provided essential financial support for the implementation of two cultural cooperation programs since 2000. For music, there is a cooperation arrangement with the Hanoi National Conservatory of Music, in contemporary dance with the Vietnam Opera Ballet, the Vietnam Advanced School of Dance and Ballet atlantique/Régine Chopinot. The Poitou-Charentes region has also been very active in putting on the different installments of the Festival of Hue, the last one taking place in June 2006. The Nord-Pas de Calais region, which has been sharing in the Festival of Hue since 2000.In liaison with l'Espace - Hanoi CCF, four festival directors

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are receiving training in cultural engineering in 2007, while one technician will be taking a sixmonth internship at Avignon this year. The city of Toulouse is developing cultural animation in the city to complement the rehabilitation operations it is doing in the old town (Culture Week on Vietnam in Toulouse, planned for May 2007).

Non-governmental cooperation in the field of agriculture and rural development accounts for 12 percent of France-Vietnam proximity projects. (See the chapter “Agriculture and Rural Development Projects under Decentralized Cooperation.”) The most active territorial communities are the regions of Midi-Pyrénées (Son La), Nord-Pas de Calais (Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Nam),Poitou-Charentes (Hanoi) and Rhônes-Alpes (Dong Nai and Can Tho); Corsica (Hai Phong), L’Indre et Loire (Hanoi), Les Côtes d’Armor (Nghe An) and Le Val de Marne (Yen Bai). Several research and development institutes (CIRAD, IRD, GRET, INRA, IFREMER) are also working in this sector. This is topped off by university cooperation arrangements. 8. Virtually all decentralized cooperation projects have a “governance” component in order to provide training for People’s Committee officials and partners so that they can ensure project follow-through and sustainability. The city of Rennes and the Nord-Pas de Calais region are working in the province of Thua Thien-Hue to develop governance support programs via the training of municipal technical officers, such as the effort undertaken by the city of Montreuil in Hai Duong province. The regions of Île-de-France (in Hanoi) and Rhône-Alpes (in HCMC) are making a contribution to government-level decision-making in the field of urban planning with the establishment of the Institute of Urban Trades (Institut des métiers de la ville – IMV) and the Urban Planning and Engineering Center (Centre de prospectives et d’études urbaines – PADDI).

For more information: Agnès Schilling, Program Officer, SCAC Email: [email protected]

Project Database for France-Vietnam Decentralized and Non-governmental Cooperation One of the features of French cooperation in Vietnam is the large number of field operations being conducted by various types of stakeholders: international solidarity organizations, territorial communities, institutions of learning, health structures, research institutes, etc.This proliferation is very enriching. The friendship and expertise networks that have been built up in this way have brought France and Vietnam closer together and are enhancing the quality of all that is being done in the area of cooperation.

When the Forum was held in Toulouse in 2003, the information collected in 1999 was updated and expanded. A definite structure was set up to produce a substantive, functional and permanent database. When the 6th Forum took place in Hue in June 2005, the project database was updated again. A new research criterion has been introduced to enable ongoing projects to be distinguished from projects that have been completed. The inclusion of data about the Vietnamese partners has been partially completed.

Nevertheless, this cross-fertilization of initiatives is also tending to make things more complex. For this reason, an inventory of projects and partners proved to be necessary so as to yield a comprehensive panorama of proximity cooperation and its main trends with regard to themes and geographical areas so as to provide operators with the information needed to avoid duplication of efforts and promote inter-project synergies, not to mention program coordination.

The Embassy of France is now attempting to keep the database up-to-date by regularly inputting details. It can do this on the basis of information conveyed to it by the various project officers. The database can be consulted on the Embassy of France’s web site: http://www.ambafrance-vn.org, heading “Relations franco-vietnamiennes,” then “Coopération,” and finally “Coopération de proximité.”

An initial inventory was made in 1999 at the conclusion of the 3rd France-Vietnam Cooperation Forum in Poitiers (1998), but it only involved decentralized cooperation and various relationships that had been entered into between local authorities. The results were put out on a reference CD ROM.

For more information: Le Phuong Thao, SCAC Email: [email protected] Nguyen Thi Vinh Ha, SCAC Email: [email protected]

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Guidebooks to French Cooperation in Vietnam Previously published:

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2002 edition French Cooperation in Vietnam Training and Higher Education in Vietnam Annual report on the activities of the CCC, 2001 French cooperation in training in Vietnam New challenges to suburban development in Hanoi The Chinese-Vietnamese urban model:Analysis of the status and role of Hanoi in the classical period What innovation policy for Vietnam? French health cooperation in Vietnam French urban development activities in Vietnam Directory of 2002-2003 scholarship holders and trainees from Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces of the South 2003 edition French Human Resources Training Activities Annual report on the activities of the SCAC, 2002 France and the French language in Vietnam France-Vietnam Cooperation: Facts and Figures French territorial communities in Vietnam Agriculture and rural development in Vietnam Low-cost housing in Ho Chi Minh City Seminar proceedings: PAOPA seminar:“Innovative Approaches for Development in Vietnam” (with CD-ROM) 2004 edition FASEVIE - An original answer to the infant malnutrition problem in Vietnam Economic growth and poverty reduction in Vietnam: the jammed machine? French scientific research activities in Vietnam Annual report on the activities of the SCAC, 2003 France Water Vietnam, 20 cooperation projects in the water sector 2005 edition Tourism in Vietnam France-Vietnam Cooperation: Facts and Figures Annual report on the activities of the SCAC, 2004 Sixth Conference on France-Vietnam Cooperation (Volume I) Sixth Conference on France-Vietnam Cooperation (Volume II) Food sector on Vietnam, industries and training, synthesis and prospects of a partnership to be reinforced French-Vietnamese co-operation in the museum sector, Facts and prospects 2006 edition Social Fund for Development France-Vietnam Cooperation: Facts and Figures Partnership Framework Document Between France and Vietnam, 2006-2010 Easterly Wind Program 1997-2007: Prospects and Operations in Southern Vietnam

French Embassy in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam 57 Tran Hung Dao - Hanoi - Tel.: 944 57 00 - www.ambafrance-vn.org