Foreign NGOs have provided Vietnam with more than 1.1 billion USD in aid.

This morning, the Committee for Foreign Non-Governmental Organization Affairs (NGO) and the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) held the 5th international conference on cooperation between Vietnam and NGOs and partners for prosperous and sustainable development.

Following the international conferences in 1992, 2003, 2013 and 2019, the conference was held to evaluate the results of cooperation between Vietnam and NGOs in the period of 2019-2025; clarify the impacts and contributions of NGO programs and projects to the socio -economic development of Vietnam; share experiences and effective cooperation models.

In the period 2020-2025, the world situation has changed in a complex and unpredictable manner, creating great challenges in international relations and significantly affecting the operations of NGOs in Vietnam. However, with the efforts to innovate thinking, content and approaches of ministries, branches, organizations and localities, NGO activities and aid in the past 5 years have remained stable.

Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son speaks at the conference

As of November 30, there were 379 NGOs operating regularly in Vietnam with a total aid value of nearly 1.14 billion USD for the 2020-2024 period. The projects are spread across the country, focusing on essential areas such as healthcare, socio-economic development, social issues, education and training, natural resources and environment, organizational capacity building and judicial support, etc.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son acknowledged and highly appreciated the practical and sustainable contributions of non-governmental organizations and partners to Vietnam over the past decades, especially in healthcare, education, poverty reduction, community development, climate change response, natural disaster response, protection of vulnerable groups, promotion of gender equality, and rural development.

In particular, NGOs have made an important contribution to mobilizing knowledge, technology, and management initiatives from the international community to Vietnam, demonstrating a sense of responsibility, affection, and respect for Vietnam.

Cooperation with NGOs is an important part of people-to-people diplomacy, contributing to strengthening friendly relations, promoting sustainable development, spreading humanistic values and enhancing connections between Vietnam and international friends.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the contributions of NGOs are not only due to the resources they bring, but more importantly, their knowledge, international experience, creativity, humanity, and new approaches to community development - factors that not all cooperation channels have.

"Cooperation between Vietnam and NGOs is therefore not only complementary, but also an indispensable part of the national development strategy," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

In the coming time, the Deputy Prime Minister hopes that NGOs will continue to accompany Vietnam in priority areas such as human development, improving social security, responding to climate change, digital transformation, innovation, promoting gender equality and sustainable community development.

The Deputy Prime Minister affirmed that the Vietnamese Government is committed to listening, accompanying and always ready to create the best conditions for NGOs to promote their values in Vietnam.

VUFO President Phan Anh Son said that cooperation with NGOs is an important part of Vietnam's foreign relations in general and people-to-people diplomacy in particular. The great achievements Vietnam has made in poverty reduction and socio-economic development have been partly contributed to and supported by friends around the world, including NGOs.

Entering a new development stage, in addition to the traditional and highly effective fields that NGOs have deployed over the years, Vietnam encourages NGOs to expand into new fields that are suitable to Vietnam's priorities and development.

President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations Phan Anh Son

Vietnam looks forward to the support of development cooperation agencies, international organizations, financial institutions, domestic and foreign enterprises to create a multi-stakeholder cooperation model suitable to new requirements, expanding the ability to provide resources, technology and management experience.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/cac-to-chuc-phi-chinh-phu-da-vien-tro-cho-viet-hon-1-1-ty-usd-2469381.html