Deputy PM Bui Thanh Son: Cooperation with foreign NGOs is an indispensable part of the national development strategy
WVR - On December 4, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son attended and delivered a keynote speech at the "5th International Conference on Cooperation between Vietnam and Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations, Partners for Prosperous and Sustainable Development" (IC5) in Hanoi.
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The IC5 conference, organized by the Committee for Foreign Non-Governmental Organization Affairs (COMINGO) and the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO), was attended by over 500 delegates representing ministries, departments, localities, diplomatic missions, international organizations, foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the business sector.
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| Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son speaking at the Conference. (Photo: An Dang) |
In his opening remarks, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and COMINGO Chairman Ngo Le Van emphasized the importance of the conference in comprehensively evaluating the cooperation results between Vietnam and foreign NGOs from 2019 to 2025. He highlighted the sharing of lessons learned, Vietnam's development needs and priorities, and the discussion of future cooperation directions to ensure effectiveness and sustainability in a rapidly changing global context.
To ensure practical outcomes from the conference, Deputy Minister Ngo Le Van urged delegates to openly share experiences, innovative models, and creative approaches. He called for specific mechanisms and solutions to create breakthroughs in cooperation for the 2026-2030 period, aiming for sustainable development goals and Vietnam's two centennial development objectives. He also encouraged strengthening links between foreign NGOs, government agencies, businesses, and local communities.
He expressed confidence that the conference would be a significant opportunity to enhance connections, expand partnerships, create new initiatives, and foster mutual understanding between Vietnam and foreign NGOs.
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| Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and COMINGO Chairman Ngo Le Van delivering the opening speech. (Photo: An Dang) |
In his welcoming remarks, VUFO Chairman Phan Anh Son emphasized that cooperation with foreign NGOs is a crucial component of Vietnam's overall foreign relations, particularly in people-to-people diplomacy. The significant achievements Vietnam has made in poverty reduction and socio-economic development over the years have been supported by friends worldwide, including foreign NGOs.
These achievements demonstrate the trust, attachment, and importance of the partnership between Vietnam and foreign NGOs in the country's development process.
According to Phan Anh Son, as Vietnam enters a new development phase, alongside traditional high-impact areas that foreign NGOs have been implementing for many years, the country encourages these organizations to expand into new fields aligned with Vietnam's priorities and development, including green economy development, circular economy, climate change adaptation, digital community transformation, sustainable agriculture support, social welfare system development, local capacity building, and innovation promotion.
Together with the NGO community, Vietnam seeks the collaboration of development cooperation agencies, international organizations, financial institutions, and businesses both domestically and internationally to create a multilateral cooperation model that meets new requirements, expanding the capacity to provide resources, technology, and governance experience. At the same time, it aims to replicate and sustainably develop the positive outcomes that many NGO programs and projects have brought to the Vietnamese people.
To enhance cooperation effectiveness in the future, VUFO proposes three key directions:
First, strengthening the development ecosystem linkages. This requires closer collaboration between NGOs, localities, businesses, research institutions, and people's organizations to maximize resources and reduce duplication in project implementation.
Second, expanding effective cooperation models. Vietnam aims to partner with NGOs to develop models with long-term impact, influence, and effectiveness, helping to enhance community capacity and promote sustainable development.
Third, consolidating trust and transparency foundations. Vietnam values the partnership with NGOs and is committed to maintaining an open, responsible, and legally compliant cooperation environment. As the Standing Agency of the Committee, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations will continue to listen to proposals and recommendations to collaborate with agencies and report to higher authorities to create effective development solutions.
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| VUFO Chairman Phan Anh Sơn speaking at the Conference. (Photo: An Dang) |
Presenting the conference report, Nguyen Ngoc Hung, VUFO Vice Chairman and COMINGO Deputy Chairman, noted that during the 2019-2025 period, despite complex, rapid, and profound international developments, the cooperative relationship between Vietnam and foreign NGOs has remained stable, flexible, and achieved many positive results.
As of November 30, 2025, there were 379 foreign NGOs operating regularly in Vietnam, with total aid value from 2020 to 2024 reaching nearly USD 1.14 billion.
The projects spanned the entire country, focusing on essential fields such as healthcare, socio-economic development, addressing social issues, education and training, natural resources and environment, organizational capacity building, and judicial support.
This success is largely attributed to Vietnam's facilitative policies, notably the National Program on Strengthening Cooperation and Mobilizing Foreign NGO Aid for the 2019-2025 period.
In recent times, COMINGO, along with relevant ministries, sectors, and provincial/city People's Committees, has consistently focused on creating a favorable environment for the activities of foreign NGOs.
As the Standing Agency of COMINGO, VUFO has played a pivotal role in effectively coordinating and connecting foreign NGOs with Vietnamese agencies and localities, serving as a regular, periodic information channel and providing cooperation orientation for foreign NGOs and donors as a basis for building strategies and planning programs and projects in line with Vietnam's priorities and needs.
In the spirit of equal partnership, mutual respect, and shared responsibility and benefits for Vietnam's sustainable development, the IC5 conference continues to strengthen and innovate cooperation between Vietnam and foreign NGOs for the 2026-2030 period, focusing resources on areas with direct impacts on people and communities, including healthcare, education and human resource development, science and technology and innovation, sustainable rural development, environmental protection and climate change response, war aftermath remediation, and support for vulnerable groups in society.
In his directive speech, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son acknowledged and highly appreciated the practical and enduring contributions of foreign NGOs and partners to Vietnam over the decades, especially in healthcare, education, poverty reduction, community development, climate change combat, disaster response, protection of vulnerable groups, gender equality promotion, and rural development.
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| Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son acknowledges and appreciates the practical and enduring contributions of foreign NGOs and partners to Vietnam over the decades. (Photo: An Dang) |
Notably, foreign NGOs have played a significant role in mobilizing knowledge, technology, and governance initiatives from the international community into Vietnam, reflecting responsibility, affection, and respect for the country and its people.
Cooperation with foreign NGOs is a vital component of people-to-people diplomacy, contributing to strengthening friendships, promoting sustainable development, spreading humanitarian values, and enhancing connections between Vietnam and international friends.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the contributions of foreign NGOs are not only about the resources they bring but, more importantly, the international knowledge, experience, creativity, humanity, and innovative community development approaches—elements not all cooperation channels possess.
"The cooperation between Vietnam and foreign NGOs is thus not merely supplementary but an indispensable part of the national development strategy," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.
In the future, the Deputy Prime Minister hopes that foreign NGOs will continue to accompany Vietnam in priority areas such as human development, social welfare enhancement, climate change response, digital transformation, innovation, gender equality promotion, and sustainable community development. He also encourages them to continue sharing experiences, knowledge, and technology, connecting Vietnam with international expert networks, and helping Vietnam engage more deeply in global initiatives.
He also urged ministries, sectors, and localities to innovate their thinking and management methods towards serving the people and community development, proactively accessing aid sources, enhancing administrative procedure reform, increasing technology application, and paying special attention to project sustainability.
Emphasizing that cooperation is not just about sharing resources but also sharing vision, responsibility, and belief in a better human life, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son affirmed that the Vietnamese Government is committed to listening, accompanying, and always ready to create the best conditions for foreign NGOs to realize their value in Vietnam.
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| Delegates attending the IC5 Conference at the National Convention Center. (Source: VGP) |
| The IC5 Conference follows international conferences held in 1992, 2003, 2013, and 2019 with the theme "Cooperation for Prosperous and Sustainable Development". In addition to the plenary session, four thematic workshops will delve into key areas: Developing education and high-quality human resources; Sustainable poverty reduction and addressing social issues, contributing to sustainable social development and management; Promoting green economy development, circular economy, and sustainable environmental protection; Enhancing the effectiveness of cooperation between Vietnam and organizations. |
