Activities of private nonprofit organizations in Vietnam, which maintains a socialist political system, have been gaining attention in recent years. However, NPOs are still heavily regulated, which has resulted in a nonprofit sector that is underdeveloped in comparison to that of other countries. Key tasks for the development of Vietnam's nonprofit sector now include developing the legal system, bolstering the capacity of government agencies that handle NPO-related affairs, and raising awareness of NPOs among government officials.
Given that Vietnam is in the process of drafting NPO legislation, this project aims to create the environment and foundation needed to develop Vietnam's nonprofit sector within a framework that takes the country's political and social realities into consideration.
During the three years of the project, 13 research activities were conducted, including an international comparative analysis of NPO-related laws and taxation systems. The results of this research have become widely known to officials in the Commission of Legislative Affairs, other government officials, and NPO representatives through regular conferences, year-end seminars, and other such forums.
Moreover, the need to strengthen networks involving officials in Vietnam's Commission of Legislative Affairs and outside experts has led to annual conferences, which have resulted in a network of about 50 legal experts from the Vietnam National University and Hanoi Law University and NPO-affiliated officials. Additionally, capacity building training on how to draft legislation has been held annually for 40 government officials.
In fiscal 2007 a seminar was held in Hanoi on January 10-11, 2008. Experts from the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law as well as from the Philippines, Hungary, Slovakia, and Japan introduced case studies to the roughly 60 seminar participants, and lively discussions took place concerning Vietnam's NPO-related laws and taxation systems.
During the term of this project, the National Assembly of Vietnam considered NPO legislation, which unfortunately was not approved. However, the activities of this project have heightened awareness in the Commission of Legislative Affairs and among other government officials of the importance of nonprofit activities. Also, the content of NPO-related bills has been improved to consider such matters as government ordinances related to charitable foundations.
This project has evidently raised the awareness of government officials in regard to the significance of NPO participation in the policymaking process and has also increased opportunities for this sort of participation in other areas as well.