University of Economics and Business
 
The 5th International Conference on Vietnamese Studies

On December 15th, the 5th International Conference on Vietnamese Studies (ICVNS2016) was held at the National Convention Center in Hanoi with the theme "Sustainable Development in the Context of Global Change". It was hosted by the Vietnam National University, Hanoi and collaboratively organized by ministries and leading research institutions in Vietnam.


The conference aimed at providing an international academic forum for discussing and proposing solutions that Vietnam is experiencing in the context of global change. It was expected to promote a global network of scientists, experts, policy makers and entrepreneurs from various fields and different countries. The conference was meant to make contributions to the establishment of an international institution on Vietnamese studies in the future.

Present at the conference were Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Minister of Education and Training Phung Xuan Nha, Chairman of Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences Nguyen Quang Thuan, VNU’s President Nguyen Kim Son and more than 1,000 delegates from 36 countries and territories.

 
Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam gives opening remarks at the conference

After the opening, the participants divided into foreign relations, international cooperation and integration; cultural resources; education and training and human resource development; technology and knowledge transfer; economy and livelihoods; and climate change sessions.

 

 
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Hong Son, Rector of the VNU-UEB gives speech at the economy and livelihood session.

The economy and livelihoods session received 270 abstracts, 220 full-text articles on economics, business and livelihoods. At the conference, 22 papers were selected to present in the general plenary and separated sessions.

Prof. Hausmann from Harvard University (USA), Prof. Tran Van Tho - Waseda University (Japan), Prof. Vu Minh Khuong - National University of Singapore (Singapore), Prof. Kennichi Ohno - National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS - Japan) were among the keynote speakers at the economy and livelihood sessions. Prof. Hausmann presented a study on the level of economic complexity Vietnam in comparison within and between countries based on his regularly used concept of economic complexity. Prof. Vu Minh Khuong discussed the productivity problem in efforts to promote the economic growth of Vietnam. In his opinion, productivity analysis was the main factor that causes the growth rate of Vietnam to slow down. Prof. Ohno presented the study on the quality of industrial policy and middle-income trap of Vietnam in comparison with other countries. The study highlighted policy as the key determinant of the long-term economic fate of any nation and recommended that improving industrial policy requires a reform of policy methodology and invigoration of private dynamism with proper stimuli.


 
Domestic and foreign scientists, experts, and policy makers attend the economy and livelihoods session
 
Prof. Hausmann presents "The level of economic complexity of Vietnam: Comparing correlations within and between countries."
 
Prof. Vu Minh Khuong presents "Productivity problem in efforts to promote economic growth of Vietnam"
 
Dr. Nguyen Anh Thu - Vice rector of VNU-UEB (centered) chairs the economy and livelihood session.

Many social and economic problems that population groups such as ethnic minorities, single women, and the disadvantaged are experiencing were analyzed from the perspectives of labor, migration, job movement… New economic models were applied to propose increasingly sustainable livelihood solutions for those people by the researchers.

Not only chair the session, VNU University of Economics and Business had several studies presented at the conference, including: "Taiwan's Investment in Vietnam: current situation and problems" by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Hong Son and Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong; "Applying the model of "good governance" in Vietnam" by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Pham Thi Hong Diep; "Building and improving agricultural value chain for Vietnam during integration" by Assoc.Prof.Dr. Tran Anh Tai and Dr. Tran The Nu and "Green Public Spending of Vietnam in the context of international economic integration” by Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet.


VNU-UEB leaders take a photograph with the participants

The conference ended with a plenary session on December 16th afternoon. Prof. Tran Van Tho from the economy and livelihood session took this chance to discuss the industrialization issues of Vietnam in the new period. In his opinion, Vietnam should boost industrialization either in width and depth so as to avoid premature de-industrialization, strengthen internal forces, nurture national capitalists, and select FDI that promote high technology projects, environment friendly, and domestic enterprises are not yet capable. He said external forces nowadays are diverse but the internal power is decisive for effective industrialization process.

The 5th ICVNS 2016 was the most outstanding science and technology event in 2016 for the international and domestic community of scientists, experts, policy makers, and others who are interested in Vietnamese studies. It had continued the success of the past four International Conferences on Vietnamese Studies held in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 1998, 2002, 2008 and 2012. The active involvement in this largely essential conference has again evidenced competences of the VNU University of Economics and Business in organization and doing research.

Thanh Tu - Thuc An