Vietnam is very well placed within Asia in terms of the general progress in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), said United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative a.i. in Vietnam Terence D. Jones in an interview with VNA.

"Vietnam is doing very well," Terence notes that the country has climbed into middle-income status prior to the Covid-19 effects.

UNDP Resident Representative a.i. in Vietnam Terence D. Jones speaks to Vietnam News Agency reporter. Photo: VNA

Terence D. Jone told VNA that he thinks with the status as a developing country, this is highly hopeful for Vietnam on the sidelines of the Launching Workshop of National Report 2020: “Five-year Progress of Sustainable Development Goals Implementation” held in Hanoi.

According to the analysis, Vietnam has achieved progress on all 17 SDGs, and by 2030, the country is on track to accomplish five of those, particularly SDG 1 – No Poverty, SDG 2 – Zero Hunger, SDG 4 – Quality Education, SDG 13 – Climate Actions, and SDG 17 on Global Partnerships.

Although there has been good progress towards reaching some goals, yet there are difficulties in a few others, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative said, added “but what we notice is that in some of those goals, the same difficulties arise in many countries.”

He praised the way the Vietnamese government is internalizing its efforts and analyzing results in order to determine how to invest more in making changes, particularly where gaps remain.

The UNDP Representative held that it would be challenging for Vietnam to accelerate the realization of the SDGs over the next ten years, also known as the Decade of Action, according to VNA.

Jones stated the fact that the government has incorporated the SDGs in its own Socio-economic Development Plans for the next five and ten years is the most important signal that Vietnam is likely to make progress.

The Sustainable Development Goals. Photo: United Nations ESCAP

Later, he added, “the government has plans to make sure it is also implemented at the provincial level, so it filters down in a very real way to local decision-makers as well, to use this as part of their planning process”.

Outlining several recommendations for Vietnam, the UNDP Resident Representative emphasized that data is the most important because that’s “how we measure progress, and to make sure that we have real-time feedback on where we need to make further improvements.”

Furthermore, the UNDP Resident Representative suggested Vietnam make the best use of the available resources. He revealed to VNA that the UNDP is collaborating with the Ministry of Planning and Investment on a financial framework, that examines how to make better use of the resources Vietnam has, including those in the budget, the private sector, and society.

Vietnam needs to enlist the help of the international community to invest in what it is striving to accomplish. In the interview, the UNDP Resident Representative also urged the government to use digitization to strengthen governance systems and to engage social organizations and the commercial sector in helping to achieve the goals.

Vietnam's rank has improved in the recent five years, according to the National Report 2020. Especially in 2020, the country ranked 49th out of 166 countries on performance in SDG implementation, five places higher than the 2019 ranking.

In the recent interview with VNA, experts pointed out that Vietnam should strive harder to achieve the goals of the five-year implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Michael Siegner, Resident Representative of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Vietnam. Photo: Hanns Seidel Foundation

Vietnam is one of the UN member states that is committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In 2015, for example, the government adopted a holistic approach to poverty measurement and joined the Paris Climate Agreement the following year. Its connections with the United Nations have established a high standard for international development cooperation.

Seventeen global SDGs have been nationalized into 115 Vietnam SDGs (VSDGs) in its “National Action Plan for Implementation of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development” based on the country’s development context and priorities.

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