Da Nang Receives Nearly 66 Billion VND from Foreign NGOs
	New Mindsets and Approaches in Mobilizing Foreign Non-Governmental Aid

Nguyen Thi Hoang, Vice Chairwoman of the People’s Committee of Dong Nai Province:

Improving the Legal Framework and Strengthening Connectivity

Nguyen Thi Hoang, Vice Chairwoman of the People’s Committee of Dong Nai Province. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

Dong Nai has received 277 programs with over USD 26 million in foreign NGO aid during 2019-2025, generating practical impact in health, education, social welfare, the environment, and the enhancement of people-to-people diplomacy.

Throughout the implementation of foreign NGO activities, ng Nai has drawn five key lessons: Ensuring unified awareness and direction regarding NGO affairs; Expanding partnerships and increasing opportunities to access aid sources; Improving procedures and intersectoral coordination; Proactively developing priority needs lists linked with monitoring and evaluation; Focusing on strengthening staff capacity, appreciating donors, and promoting communication of effective models.

Dong Nai recommends that the Government continue to refine the legal framework to facilitate foreign NGO aid activities; accelerate the development of databases and the application of digital transformation in the management, registration, and approval of projects.

For the Committee for Foreign NGO Affairs and the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO), Dong Nai proposes enhancing linkages between localities and foreign NGOs; providing information on emerging funding trends; and continuing to support capacity building for staff, particularly in provinces that are newly expanding their activity scales, such as Dong Nai.

In the coming time, Dong Nai will continue to accompany foreign NGOs in a spirit of transparency, effectiveness, and sustainability, prioritizing digital transformation, green development, social welfare, environmental protection, and the improvement of human resource quality.

Naomi Cook, Development Counsellor, Australian Embassy in Vietnam:

Financial Flexibility and Optimizing Effectiveness

Naomi Cook, Development Counsellor, Australian Embassy in Vietnam. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

Australia is currently one of the major donors in Vietnam. Despite declining global aid resources, we have maintained close cooperation with the Government of Vietnam, multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, and both international and domestic NGOs.

Australia applies a localized approach, including the sharing of knowledge and information in policy development; cooperation in program design and implementation; and sharing evaluation lessons. We highly value the contributions of NGOs to Vietnam’s development process. This reflects Australia’s core values and is built upon the deep connections between the Australian community and networks of organizations in the region, connections grounded in people-to-people relations.

NGOs provide trust, local networks, expertise, infrastructure, and valuable capacity, enabling the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to mobilize rapid responses to emerging issues. These organizations often possess a comprehensive understanding of local contexts and specialized models that help shape development approaches. They emphasize local capacity building, community empowerment, and promoting locally driven development through sustainable partnerships. Notably, they operate in many areas that are difficult for other organizations to access.

We recommend strengthening coordination between the Government of Vietnam, Australia, and NGOs to ensure activities align with local needs; enhancing the role of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations and the People's Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM) in facilitating projects; and continuing to refine mechanisms to enable NGOs to operate flexibly and effectively across different localities.

Bui Duc Hieu, Deputy Director General, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment:

Prioritizing Green Agriculture and Digital Technologies

Bui Duc Hieu, Deputy Director General, Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

In a rapidly changing global context, marked by strong scientific and technological advances and increasingly irregular and complex climate change with significant impacts on the agriculture and environment sectors, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment calls on foreign NGOs to continue accompanying and supporting the implementation of the following priority areas:

Prioritizing the transformation of agriculture and food systems toward green, low-emission, and sustainable models.

Focusing on ecological agriculture, nature-based agriculture, circular agriculture, and rural economic development; protecting ecological environments, using natural resources rationally, and maintaining and conserving biodiversity.

Supporting the training of farmers in digital skills and e-commerce; strengthening the substantive role of agricultural cooperatives; promoting digital technologies and innovation to build smart, sustainable value chains; and elevating the branding of Vietnamese agricultural products associated with traceability, geographical indications, and carbon footprints.

Promoting private sector participation and scaling up public-private partnership (PPP) models in agriculture and rural development.

Enhancing education and raising public awareness on healthy eating habits, balanced nutrition, and promoting green, responsible, and sustainable consumption.

Strengthening natural disaster prevention and mitigation; enhancing climate change adaptation; protecting the environment; conserving biodiversity; and exploiting natural resources in a sustainable manner.

Nguyen Thi Minh Huong, Vice President, Vietnam Women’s Union:

Creating Legal Facilitation for Supporting Women

Nguyen Thi Minh Huong, Vice President of the Vietnam Women’s Union

The Vietnam Women’s Union seeks to continue expanding cooperation with foreign NGOs in priority areas such as supporting women’s entrepreneurship, sustainable livelihood development, promoting women’s participation in leadership and management, and enhancing women’s capacity for climate change response and digital transformation. In addition, the Union is interested in emerging topics such as women, peace, and security; the integration capacities of migrant women; health; and gender equality.

To realize these orientations and enhance the effectiveness of NGO cooperation, improving the legal environment and policy mechanisms is essential. The Vietnam Women’s Union recommends continued improvement of the legal framework in the direction of increased decentralization and delegation of authority, simplified procedures, and enabling the receipt of small-scale aid packages, technical assistance, and emergency relief activities. The Union also hopes to continue receiving support and accompaniment from state management agencies throughout this process.

The Vietnam Women’s Union stands ready to participate in capacity-building activities and share experiences with women’s organizations and gender-focused organizations in partner countries using aid from the Government of Vietnam.

Le Quynh Lan, Country Director, Plan International Vietnam:

Scaling Local Models

Le Quynh Lan, Country Director, Plan International Vietnam. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

Entering the 2025-2030 period with major global shifts, from climate change and digital transformation to competition over global resources, the connection between Vietnam and international organizations is becoming increasingly important. In that spirit, Plan International proposes:

Continuing to maintain and promote the coordinating role of the Committee for Foreign NGO Affairs, the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM), and the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations.

Scaling local models such as those in Tuyen Quang and Quang Tri, linking programs with provincial socio-economic development plans, and approving long-term cooperation programs.

Promoting public–private partnerships, considering businesses as development partners through mechanisms such as tax incentives, social credit, co-financing, and ESG standards.

Strengthening communication and regional cooperation, sharing development outcomes; building programs to address cross-border issues such as climate change, cybercrime prevention and response; developing regional circular economy models with foreign NGOs in Vietnam playing a leading role; and organizing forums for countries to learn from Vietnam’s models.

Enhancing coordination in aid mobilization, connecting ministries, sectors, localities, social organizations, and businesses, placing people at the center.

Optimizing finance and ensuring sustainability by diversifying funding sources (public-private-aid-development), mobilizing social resources, and developing handover plans for localities to independently operate successful models.

Christie Getman, Country Director of the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) in Vietnam:

Supporting Digital Transformation

Christie Getman, Country Director of the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) in Vietnam. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

Over the past 30 years of partnership with Vietnam, SNV has operated in three priority areas: agri-food systems, clean water, and renewable energy. In the 2025-2030 period, we will continue focusing on promoting green and inclusive economic growth, including the bio-circular economy, digital transformation, and capacity building for the private sector.

SNV greatly values its partnership and close cooperation with the Government of Vietnam, the Committee for Foreign NGO Affairs, and the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations throughout project implementation. We have received extensive support in mobilizing communities, farmer cooperatives, startups, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in our programs and contribute to shared development goals.

In the coming period, we look forward to continuing our support for Vietnam’s digital transformation efforts, particularly in the agriculture sector, to enable vulnerable communities and ethnic minority groups to participate more deeply in agricultural supply chains, develop businesses, and strengthen connectivity. This includes enhancing vocational and agricultural skills training; and promoting youth engagement in agriculture and energy, in the context of Vietnam advancing its green transition in the next five years.

Nguyen Tuyet Nga, Country Representative of PATH in Vietnam:

Bringing Advanced Technologies to Support Vietnam’s Health Sector

Nguyen Tuyet Nga, Country Representative of PATH in Vietnam. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

PATH has been present in Vietnam for 45 years. Throughout this journey, PATH has remained a trusted partner, bringing advanced global technologies and solutions to support Vietnam’s health sector.

In the coming period, the health priorities we aim to support include: responding to public health emergencies such as disease outbreaks; addressing climate change-related health risks; tackling inequities in healthcare access; and providing solutions to ensure social equity and comprehensive care for people’s physical, mental, intellectual health, and essential life skills. Additionally, digital transformation and sustainable green development remain important goals.

In recent years, PATH has received strong support, timely guidance, and instructions from the Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations and the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM). During 2025-2030, we hope to continue receiving support and direction to ensure that foreign NGOs, including PATH, can implement activities aligned with Vietnam’s needs and sustainable development goals.

Le Kim Dung, Country Director of CARE International in Vietnam:

Promoting Multilateral Cooperation Models

Le Kim Dung, Country Director of CARE International in Vietnam. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

CARE International currently prioritizes two key areas: supporting women’s entrepreneurship and economic development, particularly ethnic minority women; and supporting ethnic minority communities and disadvantaged areas in developing climate-resilient, green livelihoods and strengthening resilience to natural disasters.

In the 2025-2030 period, CARE International will continue aligning with the priorities set by the Government of Vietnam at both the national level and in the localities where we operate. We will remain focused on disadvantaged regions, ethnic minority areas, the northern mountainous region, the Central Highlands, and the Mekong area.

We aim to support communities in better adapting to climate change and helping ethnic minority women enhance their capacity to access economic opportunities to develop green and sustainable livelihoods. Furthermore, we will continue prioritizing support for women, especially ethnic minority women in entrepreneurship linked with sustainable value chain development. Accompanying Vietnam in disaster risk prevention will also remain one of our core priorities in the years ahead.

We strongly believe in the four-party cooperation model involving the State, businesses, international organizations (including NGOs), and communities. In particular, the cooperation model that mobilizes resources between international NGOs and the business sector shows great potential. We hope that mechanisms, policies, and management procedures will become more enabling, allowing international NGOs to participate in multilateral cooperation in a transparent, effective manner.

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