From September 1st to 10th, a training course titled “A Study Visit on Economic Groups of Vietnam” was held at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. This short, intensive program consisted of 10 senior staff members from Vietnam’s National Center for Socio-Economic Information and Forecast (NCEIF) and Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).

The 10 day course was held by the Center for Economic Corporation (CEC) of the KDI School and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). This program provided Vietnamese leaders access to learn Korea’s experience in organizing and governing economic groups, especially pertaining to economic research, analysis and forecast for establishing development strategies and forecasting the development trends of Korean economic groups. To realize the project’s objective, the KDI School and KOICA selected highly qualified participants of director rank or higher level officials at the NCEIF or MPI who are fluent in English and have at least five years’ work experience in the related fields.

According to data from the CEC, there are eight national economic groups and 96 stat owned general corporations operating under the form of holding companies in Vietnam since the end of 2008. In supporting its national economic groups and corporations, the MPI and NCEIF are two departments that play a significant role. The MPI is responsible for recommending appropriate measures for macro management and governance of economic groups to the government, and the NCEIF mainly assists domestic economic groups and enterprises in conceiving their development directions for the future. The Korean economic groups’ experiences in conducting research and forecasts on economic development trends provide a pertinent and reliable model for Vietnamese economic groups and companies experiencing a similar development trend.

Dr. Sang-Woo Nam, Capacity Building Consultant of the Asian Development Bank Institute and a visiting Professor of the KDI School, participated in the program and explained why Vietnam chose Korea as their destination for training. He stated, “Vietnam has been promoting economic groups since. They really want to make the economic groups national champions in their respective markets, so they can compete effectively in the world market. They are trying to learn this experience from many countries, and they chose Korea because they understand that Korean economic groups are playing an important role in the domestic economy as well as in the global market.” When interviewed by Arirang News, one director from the MPI said, “The economic situation of Korea in its initial stage of development after the Korean War is similar to the present economic condition of Vietnam. The Korean economy was devastated after the war, but through 30 years’ economic development, Korea has become one of the most rapidly developing countries in the world. Vietnam also hopes to learn from the ‘Han River Miracle’.”

The KDI School and KOICA organized a series of activities including eight lectures, four roving seminars, and field visits to relevant institutions. The lectures included topics such as diversification strategies of Korean business groups; corporate governance of economic groups; role of group’s think tank; regulation of unfair transactions; and cooperative practices between large enterprises and small & medium-sized enterprises. During the four roving seminars, participants discussed practical suggestions for the growth of economic groups and private sectors in Vietnam. Four out of ten days were also arranged for field trips and study visits to Korea affiliated government departments, economic groups and big chaebols. The participants visited the Fair Trade Commission, Federation of Korean Industries, Korea Economic Research Institute, Korea Small Business Institute, Korea Development Institute, as well as the Samsung Group, Hyundai Group and POSCO.

Overall, the training course resulted in very positive responses from Vietnamese officers. One of the attendees who participated, a deputy director from the MPI, emphasized that “even though we only attended several lectures, we could understand the structure as well as the role of economic groups in the Korean economic development process.” Mr. Wootae Ji, a member of the CEC, also expressed his sincere gratitude for their active participation and cooperation in the program. He concluded by saying, “I strongly believe that this program, through sharing a variety of experiences in corporate management and policy making, will have a positive effect on Vietnam’s economic groups and its private sector. I also hope that this program will pave the way for future cooperation between our two countries, Vietnam and Korea.”

A long term training course titled “Enhancing Analytical Capacity for Socio-Economic Policy Evaluation for Vietnam,” which targeted mid-level government officials, was also held at the KDI School from September 8th to November 6th.

By Zhonglei Liu (MBA 2009, China)