PHASE 1
At the 1992 Earth Summit on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, participating governments adopted Agenda 21, an action plan for sustainable development in the 21st century. Vietnam is one of the countries to benefit from the resulting Capacity 21 Trust Fund. In 1995, UNDP and Capacity 21 Trust Fund co-funded Phase 1 of a project entitled "Strengthening National Capacities to Integrate the Environment into Investment Decisions". Phase 1 of this project, executed by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), in co-operation with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MOSTE), Hanoi People's Committee, and Lam Dong People's Committee, ended in mid-1998. This project, the first environmental project to be implemented by a planning and investment decision-making agency in Vietnam, had two main goals: 1) To strengthen the central Government's capacity to integrate environmental issues into investment decision-making; and 2) To design demonstration models for the integration of regulatory, economic and voluntary approaches for addressing key environmental problems.

PHASE 2
"Environment Issues in Investment Planning -VIE/97/007" aims to implement the research findings of Phase 1. UNDP and Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC) have provided US$3.5 million in funding, to be used between April 1998 and March 2001. The project is implemented by MPI, in co-operation with line ministries including MOSTE and the Ministry of Finance (MOF), and Hanoi, Lam Dong, and Quang Ninh provinces.

Project Objectives
The long-term objective of VIE/97/007 is to ensure that investment decisions taken in Vietnam are environmentally sustainable. Project activities will focus on three Provincial Pilot Projects (PPPs)-the Thuong Dinh Industrial Zone in Hanoi, Ha Long City in Quang Ninh, and Bao Loc Town in Lam Dong. The project aims to impact the attitudes and behavior of planners and investment decision-makers in these areas and at the central level. It is hoped that the outputs and experiences drawn from the PPPs will be replicated and applied nationwide.

Target Actors
VIE/97/007 aims to raise the environmental consciousness and/or professional skills of the following Target Actors: planners and environmentalists at the central level of Government and in the PPPs; investment decision-makers at the central level and in the PPPs; and business people and residents in the PPPs.

OBJECTIVE 1 | OBJECTIVE 2 | OBJECTIVE 3

The bidding process to hire a subcontractor for the Provincial Pilot Projects proved more time consuming than anticipated. The successful candidate, Colenco, began work in the Provincial Pilot Projects in October 1999. Now that Phase 2 is fully operational, the development goals of the project will be accomplished by meeting the following objectives:

OBJECTIVE 1.
The bases for information exchange and collaboration between key actors in achieving environmental sustainability of investments have been consolidated. Indicators of Success: The main development planning and investment decision making processes are documented; key actors are identified; 70% of the key actors participate regularly in meetings of informal networks; 70% of the key actors are satisfied with the work done in the informal networks; 70% of the key actors report that studies which are published by the project are relevant; 10 studies published; networks are increasingly functioning without project inputs; three effective Provincial Project Support Committees.

Output 1.1: At the central level, an informal network has become an effective platform to address problems related to priority issues.

Output 1.2: In each Provincial Pilot Project, a Provincial Project Support Committee has been established and has guided the pilot project process.

Output 1.3: Ten studies have been published that are likely to enhance the knowledge of these key actors, eight to ten quarterly newsletters have been published on project activities and the topic of environment in investment decision making.

OBJECTIVE 2.
Professional capacity in Vietnam to facilitate the incorporation of environment protection in investment decisions has developed. Indicators of Success: All of the training needs of development planners are assessed in a participative manner; one support tool has been elaborated together with the users; 80% of the target staff are familiar with the support tools (in Vietnam); three stimulating working models for integrated planning have been elaborated and tested at the central and Provincial Pilot Project levels; all these proposals are documented in Vietnamese and ready for replication; other programs and projects become interested in the experiences of the Provincial Pilot Projects; 70% of the trainees are satisfied with the quality of the training courses; modules for a one-month training course have been elaborated and tested.

Output 2. 1: Three working models on strategic planning under scarce resources have been made and tested in the provincial pilot project areas; a functioning environmental fund has been set up in the Hanoi Pilot Project.

Output 2.2: The experiences of the Provincial Pilot Projects are documented and made accessible to development planners in Vietnam (in the form of three story books and three documentary videos).

Output 2.3: All project experiences are summarized in modules for a Sustainable Development Training Course for development planners.

Output 2.4: A support tool is developed, tested and introduced to aid development planners in the screening of policies and plans.

Output 2.5: Thirty-five development planners at the provincial level enhanced their skills significantly through intensive collaboration with the project.

OBJECTIVE 3.
Consensus and concrete proposals have been developed on the problems and opportunities of adjusting policies and institutional frameworks to encourage environmentally-sound investment decision making. Indicators of Success: The main barriers discouraging environmentally-friendly investments and project designs are documented; proposals to remove these barriers are discussed; consensus is achieved as to these barriers should be removed; three realistic proposals have been prepared by the project and submitted to relevant Government agencies for consideration as part of the Government institutional reforms; Fifty percent of the key actors are aware of the proposal; Fifty percent of the key actors support this proposal.

Output 3.1: The main barriers hindering investors from integrating environmental considerations into development plans and project designs are identified, analyzed and discussed.

Output 3.2: Weaknesses that have a negative impact on the environment in policy and plan formulation and appraisal are identified, analyzed and discussed.

Output 3.3: Policy recommendations and working models to incorporate environmental considerations into the investment decision-making process are proposed to the authorities in consolidated proposals.

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