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International Conference on Innovation and Renovation: Public Services and Spending

From left to right: Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet, Dr. Le Dang Doanh, Prof. Adam Fforde and Dr. Dang Duc Dam
On 12th November 2015, the VNU University of Economics and Business (UEB) held the international conference under the theme of "Innovation and Renovation in Public Services and Spending: International Experiences and current situation in Vietnam".


Attending the conference, there were representatives of Hanns Seidel Foundation; leaders of government agencies, research institutes, universities, associations, domestic and international experts together with leaders, staff, lecturers and students of the UEB.
Delivering the opening speech at the conference, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Hong Son - Rector of the UEB said: This is the 11th conference in the series of annual conferences on Public Policy and Development and is an important part in research orientation and policy advice of the UEB. The conferences were associated with the foundation and development of the Faculty of Development Economics. Over the years, the conferences focused on analysis and evaluation of public policy of Vietnam in comparison with international experiences.
The conference aims to strengthen academic exchange as well as create a forum for domestic and international experts and professionals to discuss and exchange on topics related to public policy and sustainable development.

Rector of UEB - Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Hong Son delivered the opening speech at the conference

Mr. Axel Neubert - Representative of Hanns Seidel Foundation in Vietnam delivered the welcome speech at the conference
The conference this year was divided into two sessions: Session 1 "creative reform in public services" and session 2 "innovative reforms in public spending and the national target programs". Besides presentations, the conference also received discussions and comments from experts, senior policy advisers as well as policy makers in the field of public services and spending.


Overview of the conference
In the first session, researchers and policy makers put stress on the need to redefine the role and functions of the state in provision of public services, as the services are characterized by Nonexcludability and nonrivalrous consumption. The issues were raised in the discussions of Dr. Dang Duc Dam - Former Deputy Head of Prime Minister's Research Commission and Prof. Adam Fforde - Victoria Institute for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University, Australia.
The scholars also put special emphasis on the “withdrawal of monopoly” of the government in public services to create a market of effective public services in the context of restricted budget and transition from administrative modeled government to serviced modeled government. In such situation, the government should focus its limited resources in the four key areas: macroeconomic management, governance of public entities, funding basic and essential services and support for policies and disadvantaged people.
In the second session, the researchers focused on innovation of public spending and better serve the objectives of sustainable development which Vietnam has committed. Speakers of session 2 are Dr. Tran Thi Thanh Tu - Dean of the Faculty of Finance and Banking (UEB), Ms. Chu Thi Hanh - Deputy Head of the Office of Poverty Reduction Program (Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs), Prof. Finn Tarp - Director of UNU-WIDER.
From the right: Ms. Chu Thi Hanh, Dr. Tran Thi Thanh Tu, Prof. Finn Tarp
The speakers focused on discussing the policy basis and specific solutions for sustainable poverty reduction in rural and mountainous areas, on the basis of orientations and specific targets for sustainable poverty reduction by 2020.
Besides, the research team of the State-level project coded TB MOST 03X / 13.18 under the Northwest program, including Dr.Nguyen Quoc Viet, Dr. Tran Thanh Tu, Dr. Hoang Khac Lich, proposed to analyze the framework of 5 GAPs to evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of enforcement of the National Target Program (NTP) in the Northwest in the period from 2001 to 2015. The study results showed significant differences between the targets and achievement of the NTP, between the evaluation of enforcement officers and beneficiaries, as well as evaluation of different levels of authorities on compliance of the program and participation of citizens.
The conference also received various comments and discussions from experts and participants. The organizers hoped that the results of the conference will contribute to the planning and implementation of socio - economic development programs of Vietnam in the next phase from 2016 to 2020.
With the motto: Research activities should lead the training activities of the University, along with maintenance of the series of conferences, the VNU University of Economics and Business in general and the Faculty of Development Economics in particular has been implementing the postgraduate programs with intense focus on theoretical research and applications in the field of public policy and management. The programs include: Master in Maritime Economics and Master of Public Policy and Development. The master programs are scientifically designed to combine theoretical research and highly practical applications, with reference to similar training programs worldwide.
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Hoang Lam