The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) held a conference on October 1 with a focus on the development of a strategy to supervise and evaluate public investment in the 2015-2020 period.

Participants discussed the status quo of public investment and future trends, and shared experience and best practices in this field.

According to MPI Deputy Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, learning from other countries will help Vietnam set up an effective and transparent monitoring and evaluation system for public investment.

He expressed his belief that Vietnam would build a system that meets international standards and contributes to national economic development, with the support of development partners.

Meanwhile, Nadia Krivetz from the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, explained that the Law on Public Investment created an efficient legal framework and an overall mechanism on pre- and post-investment supervision.

She also noted that the Australian Government supported Vietnam in the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation system for official development assistance over the last few years.

Nguyen Xuan Tu, head of the MPI’s Department of Investment and Appraisal, affirmed that public investment is significant for Vietnam’s economy, accounting for 40 percent of the country’s total social investments. As much as 18-20 percent of investments is ODA, he said.

However, he pointed out that public investment in Vietnam remained ineffective and unsustainable. In 2013, only 66.75 percent of public-invested projects, or 23,890 projects, were obliged to submit supervision reports due to the limited capacity of management bodies.

He proposed a strategic roadmap and action plan be developed for the 2015-2020 period, focussing on applying supervision and evaluation tools and assessing the progress of the implementation of the Law on Public Investment.

Participants agreed on targets for the implementation of a framework strategy for the 2015-2020 period, with supervision and evaluation tools divided into the three groups of investors, governing bodies and State management agencies.

They also highlighted the importance of appropriate frame conditions for monitoring and appraising public investment.-VNA