Open Government Partnership (OGP)’s principles will help Vietnam to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Hanoi, 18 February 2019. Towards Transparency (TT), the National Contact of Transparency International (TI) in Vietnam launched the research report “Open Government Partnership (OGP) can contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Vietnam”. The workshop was co-chaired by Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kieu Vien, Executive Director of Towards Transparency and Prof. Nguyen Minh Thuyet, Towards Transparency’s Board Member, Former Vice Chairman of the Vietnam National Assembly’s Culture and Education Committee. The workshop attracted numerous participants from the government, embassies, international development partners, civil society and the media.

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is currently the most prominent international initiative that aims to secure concrete committments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technology to strengthen governance. 79 countries and 20 local governments are members of OGP and are using it as an effective tool to promote good governance, anti-corruption and sustainable development. The research report was conducted by Towards Transparency under the framework of the Open Government Partnership project co-funded by the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Embassy of Denmark. It shows that OGP, grounded in transparency, accountability, citizen engagement, and the use of information technology to deliver public services, is an efficient mechanism to help countries achieve the SDGs.

The workshop was opened by Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kieu Vien, Towards Transparency’s Executive Director, and Mr. Paul Jansen, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Vietnam. In the welcome remarks, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kieu Vien stated “Although Vietnam is not yet eligible to become a member of OGP, it has developed and currently implements many policies in line with OGP’s principles (i.e. transparency, accountability and citizen engagement). For instance, in the past few years, Vietnam has been consolidating its legal framework for preventing and fighting corruption, promoting e-government and administrative reforms“.

The panel discussion became vibrant with the participation of respected guest speakers. Dr. Le Dang Doanh, Senior Economist, Former Member of the Committee for Development Policy of the United Nations presented on the topic “Open government in generating business opportunities and investment in Vietnam”.

Among keynote speakers of the workshop, Ms. Caitlin Wiesen-Antin, Chair of the UN Governance Results Group and UNDP Resident Representative in Viet Nam urged Viet Nam to become an Open Government Partnership member and continue its efforts to implement #SDG16 that aims at ensuring transparent, responsive, accountable, open, inclusive and clean institutions for all Vietnamese citizens. She also informed participants that on 28 Feb, UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner would sign a MoU with Open Government Partnership to focus their partnership in 6 working thematic areas.

Prof. Nguyen Minh Thuyet concluded the workshop and emphasized “If Vietnam applies seriously and effectively the principles of OGP in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, I believe that the quality of Vietnam’s governance and institutions will be improved, thereby mobilizing resources and the involvement of the whole society so as to promote economic growth and sustainable development”.

The principles of OGP are consistent with Vietnam’s policies and could be used as an effective mechanism to promote good governance and implement sustainable development goals. The report recommends that the government of Vietnam considers joining OGP and more importantly, integrates OGP’s principles into the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The study was initiated and led by Toward Transparency and conducted by an independent research team. The aim of the study is to provide the government and other stakeholders with the benefits and potentials of applying OGP’s principles on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Please download here for the full report and download here for the executive summary.