This program supported by JICA aims to evaluate effect of assistance projects for Vietnam’s tourism in the past 20 years, specifically from 2000 to 2011. Through those evaluations, petitions and solutions were proposed to attract assistance projects and improve efficiency in using funded capital from organizations and nations in the word in favour of the development of tourism industry in the coming period.

Representative of researching group, Dr. Pham Truong Hoang, Manager of International Cooperation Division, lecturer of Tourism and Hospitality, National Economic University said, since 2000, Vietnam’s Tourism has received about 30 projects from international organizations. Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) takes the lead with 8 projects, followed by Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) with 5 projects, JICA and Luxembourg Government with 4 projects each, Asia Development Bank (ADB) and European Union (EU) with 2 projects each, and other organizations such as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (UICN) each having one project.

Those projects which trend to increase in both value and quantity in recent years, specifically since 2009 have mostly aimed at sustainable tourism development, tourism growth, human resource development, poverty reduction, natural & cultural protection,... VNAT has received the most with 15 projects

Those outcomes show that assistance projects for Vietnam’s tourism in recent years have contributed positively for development of tourism industry. However there still exists a few obstacles in implementing the projects such as: the procedure of issuing licenses is too complicated and takes too much time, the targets of some projects are too ambitious, ability and awareness of people involving in projects are not high, participation and cooperation between different stakeholders are not closely; results and success of some projects are not applied in reality,… These obstacles need to be solved in the coming time.

It is expected that these assessments would give an overview of administration and implementation of assistance projects in Vietnam. In the near future, tourism industry will soon develop plans of attracting investment; effectively control and implement the projects towards sustainable development which was proposed in the development strategy of Vietnam’s tourism to 2020 and vision 2030..

Translated by Thu Giang (TITC)