Project to improve Vietnamese people's stature 'frozen' due to funding

Speaking to Thanh Nien newspaper yesterday, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh said that immediately after the 2015 Lunar New Year, the Ministry will hold a meeting with several relevant ministries and agencies to jointly resolve difficulties in implementing the overall plan for developing the physical fitness and stature of Vietnamese people in the period 2011-2030.
(Project 641).

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The project lacks scientific research or evidence linking the specific nutritional characteristics with the culinary cultural habits of Vietnamese people - Photo: Bach Duong

As we have analyzed in previous issues, Project 641 was launched at the beginning of the second quarter of 2011, but due to many objective obstacles and internal difficulties, it remains in a state of "inactivity".

Not only is there a lack of scientific research or evidence linking specific nutritional characteristics with cultural eating habits and exercise habits, but the scientific basis of the project is also incomplete and inconsistent in its assessment of factors affecting the physical development and stature of Vietnamese people. We have documents from several ministries and agencies that statistically record the height and stature of Vietnamese youth, but each document yields vastly different figures. This demonstrates a complete lack of coordination among agencies, with each acting independently.

Some activities related to the project have been implemented, but only superficially, as there is no clear direction on resource mobilization. The project coordination committee operates on a part-time basis, while industry leaders are too busy with their own work, so the time dedicated to the project is very limited. One of the five funding sources will come from sports betting, but it is unclear when the sports betting project will actually materialize.

A reporter from Thanh Nien newspaper explained all the aforementioned difficulties in an interview with Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh, Head of the Coordination Board for Project 641. Mr. Hoang Tuan Anh acknowledged that the project is facing many challenges: “The physical strength and stature of Vietnamese people are problematic. Compared to Japan or South Korea, whose height increased rapidly over 10 years, the height of Vietnamese people only increased by a mere 1 cm during the same period. A person's stature and physical condition depend on four basic factors: genes, nutrition, living environment, and exercise. However, due to the country's history of war, the conditions for implementing these factors have been significantly affected over a very long period.”

Therefore, the overall objective of the project is clearly stated: To develop the physical fitness and stature of Vietnamese people over the next 20 years to improve the quality of human resources, serving the cause of industrialization and modernization of the country, gradually improving the quality of the Vietnamese race and increasing the healthy life expectancy of Vietnamese people. However, if these two factors are not improved between now and 2020 and with a vision to 2030, it will have a huge impact on the human resources serving all areas of social life in the future.”

According to Minister Hoang Tuan Anh, the Ministry of Health is launching several programs related to the project, and so is the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, but "our biggest obstacle is the funding issue." "Project 641 is extremely important and requires strong involvement from the state, many ministries and sectors, and the entire society in various fields. The sports sector alone cannot handle the enormous workload of the project," Mr. Hoang Tuan Anh said, affirming: "Immediately after the Lunar New Year 2014, we will hold a meeting with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Planning and Investment to discuss and resolve the difficulties we are facing. Funding is essential for the project to operate effectively, both broadly and deeply."

During this meeting, the sports sector will propose that the Ministry of Finance, in coordination with relevant ministries, issue a joint circular guiding the management and use of funds for the implementation of Project 641. It is also expected that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will request the Ministry of Finance to consider allowing the project's coordinating committee to establish a company to invest in the development of physical fitness and stature of Vietnamese people, helping to mobilize, manage, and utilize budget and non-budgetary resources.

Lan Phuong

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/de-an-nang-tam-voc-nguoi-viet-nam-bat-dong-vi-kinh-phi-1851297355.htm