2._Attachment_1__Statement_of_Objectives_(Amendment_2).pdf

RFP No. 72044019R00001 Amendment 2 USAID/Vietnam – Strengthening Provincial Capacity

ATTACHMENT 1

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

1 TITLE OF ACTIVITY

The title of the activity is USAID/Vietnam Strengthening Provincial Capacity.

2 PURPOSE

The purpose of this activity is to strengthen the capacity and build the sustainability of local institutions’ capacity building services at the provincial/local levels. By doing so, these institutions will be able to provide high quality, relevant interventions addressing capacity gaps, so that provincial officials can implement and measure economic governance reforms more effectively.

3 BACKGROUND

Local officials from remote provinces do not have access to quality, relevant capacity development opportunities to enable them to do their jobs effectively. This is hindering the ability of Vietnam to implement economic and governance reforms that promote continued economic growth and level the playing field for all investors. This lack of capacity hinders the ability of local officials to make meaningful changes encouraging greater SME integration into global value chains as well as implementing processes to facilitate trade and develop a predictable investment climate at the provincial level. In order to effectively target local officials to implement and monitor policies, laws, and regulations more effectively, to enable continued economic growth and investment, Vietnamese institutions must be able to design and deliver relevant trainings in a systemic, sustainable manner.

Vietnam’s policy framework has undergone tremendous changes, facilitating a market-oriented economy. Many changes were spurred from western academics who provided lectures to Vietnam’s senior officials on how to develop policies to attract greater investment as Vietnam was preparing to open up its economy. Appropriate at the time, it was a short-term fix; there was little attention to developing the longer-term capacity within the institutions. There still is an overreliance on overseas-based international experts to provide trainings making them cost prohibitive, difficult to plan, and difficult to replicate. There is no reason why there could not be greater knowledge and skill transfer from international experts to Vietnamese experts, so that Vietnamese institutions can take the lead to design and deliver quality short term training opportunities to officials.

Theory of Change: If USAID/Vietnam invests in existing Vietnamese institutions to promote greater sustainability by strengthening both institutional capacity and the capacity to design and deliver relevant trainings targeting local officials, then these institutions will be competitive in the marketplace and provinces will seek out these institutions to provide capacity development opportunities. As a result of having access to quality, relevant training opportunities, local officials, will be able to implement economic governance reforms more effectively, interact with citizens and private sector to improve transparency and accountability, and also have the skills to measure the success of their efforts.

4 OBJECTIVES

The contractor must, through the performance of this contract, strengthen the capacities of three existing Vietnamese institutions (with the mandate to provide capacity development opportunities to provincial officials) by developing their ability and reputations to deliver customized capacity building opportunities for local officials to strengthen officials’ capacity to implement and measure economic governance reforms more effectively. At the end of this contract, these institutions’ provincial capacity building services must be sustainable - able to compete in the marketplace - and deliver practical capacity development opportunities.

Constraints:

1. Must work with three (3) existing institutions currently providing capacity development opportunities to provincial officials.

2. Must deepen or build relationships between at least one (1) American institution working on capacitating local officials and at least one (1) of the targeted Vietnamese institutions

USAID/Vietnam is planning to provide support to Ho Chi Minh Academy through another mechanism, and therefore, does not intend that HCMA be a targeted institution under this contract.