On the morning of May 26, 2022, in Hanoi, the General Statistics Office (GSO) held the Project kick-off ceremony and signed the terms of reference (TOR) 2022 of the project “Support the General Statistics Office to improve the quality of official statistics, develop a national statistical database system and train staff”. General Director of GSO Nguyen Thi Huong chaired the Project Kick-off Ceremony. Attending the Launching and Signing Ceremony of the TOR, on the GSO side, there was Mr. Nguyen Trung Tien, Deputy General Director of the GSO; leaders of the GSO’s Departments. On the KOSTAT side, Mr. Hyungjun Ahn, General Director in charge of Statistical Policy, KOSTAT; Mr. Eun-Pyo Hong, Project Director; experts from the Korea Statistics Promotion Institute (KSPI) and the Korea Statistical Information Institute (KOSII).
In the opening speech, Director General Nguyen Thi Huong said that GSO and KOSTAT have established bilateral cooperation relations since 2002. During the past 20 years, the two statistical offices of the two countries have increasingly tightened their cooperation, exchanging annual high-level delegations to promote bilateral exchanges and expand cooperation activities; Transfer advanced statistical methodology and share the statistical experience. During the period 2012-2013, the Korean Government, through KOSTAT, supported Statistics Vietnam with a project on Developing a strategy to strengthen the capacity of Vietnamese statistical staff. Through the project, 45 trained staff in economic statistics, social statistics, analysis, and forecasting in Korea. At the same time, a Training Strategy and training materials have been developed for Statistics of Vietnam. Training courses for GSOs’ civil servants are also held in Vietnam. In addition, KOSTAT also equips GSO with a classroom with a capacity of 20 people with modern machinery and equipment.
Based on the success of previous projects, in 2020 and 2021, despite the complicated developments of the Covid-19 epidemic and cooperation activities taking place online, GSO and KOSTAT have closely coordinated to set up and approved the project “Support the General Statistics Office to improve the quality of official statistics, develop a national statistical database system and train staff” funded by KOSTAT. The Project will be done from 2022 to 2025 and help the Statistics of Vietnam by improving the quality of the official database of national statistics, training Vietnamese statistical officers, and supporting 25 sets of computers to help improve the capacity of facilities in information technology of GSO, contributing to improving the effectiveness of training for the contingent of civil servants and public employees of Vietnam Statistics.
Speaking at the Kick-off and Signing Ceremony, Mr. Hyungjun Ahn, Director General in charge of Statistical Policy, KOSTAT said that through 3 meetings, the two sides have made progress in implementing the Launching Ceremony and signing TOR 2022 for the Project. Mr. Hyungjun Ahn expressed his wish that cooperation projects between the two agencies would be typical models for other countries.
Participants listened to representatives of KOSTAT and KSPI present an overview of the project. General contents by project scope: (1) Establishing a roadmap for the period of 2022-2025, creating an enhanced master plan for ODA projects in Vietnam to ensure the sustainability of the Project; (2) Consulting on quality management system development: Analyzing the statistical quality management situation in Vietnam and providing a framework for consulting and planning the development of the quality management system; (3) Training in Korea: 01-week intermediate level management course for 05 people, 01-week statistical analysis course for 10 people; (4) Training in Vietnam: 01-week economic statistics course for 15 people, 01-week social statistics course for 15 people; (5) Supply of equipment: Funding and installation of capacity building training for Vietnamese statisticians.
Within the program, the two statistical agencies of the two countries’ appointed representatives are Mr. Nguyen Trung Tien, Deputy General Director of GSO, and Mr. Hyungjun Ahn, General Director of Statistical Policy, KOSTAT to sign the TOR. 2022. At the event, both sides expressed their trust and optimism in the spirit of cooperation, responsibility, and close coordination toward the successful implementation of this project.
