On March 10, 2022, at NAPA Headquarter in Ha Noi, Dr. Nguyen Dang Que, Executive Vice President of the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA), attended an online working session with Dr. Alex Brilliantes, Jr., Secretary-General of the Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA).
Participants attending the virtual meeting.
Attending the meeting were Dr. Alex Brilliantes, Jr., EROPA Secretary-General and his team.
On the side of NAPA, there were Dr. Nguyen Dang Que, NAPA Executive Vice President, as well as representatives and staff of the NAPA Office, Department of Refresher Training Management, Department of Planning and Finance, International Cooperation Department, State Management Review, and Institute of Administrative Studies.
Dr. Nguyen Dang Que speaking at the meeting.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Nguyen Dang Que expressed his pleasure to welcome Dr. Brillantes, Jr. to a bilateral working session between NAPA and EROPA. Dr. Nguyen Dang Que emphasized that this working session is an opportunity for the two sides to discuss the 2022 cooperation plan between NAPA and EROPA, and exchange and discuss issues related to the organization of the 2023 EROPA Conference in Vietnam.
At the meeting, the following issues were addressed by Dr. Nguyen Dang Que:
1) Regarding the joint coordination to conduct an international training program for trainers on SDGs in the curriculum for public administration and propose to the United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG): 5-10 trainers will be selected to participate in the program, and some trainers with low English proficiency will participate as the observers to improve both their professional capacity and their foreign language ability.
(2) Regarding the NAPA substantive participation in the Asian Review for Public Administration (ARPA): one NAPA lecturer will be nominated to join the ARPA Editorial Board; NAPA would like EROPA to guide and provide information (on formats, conditions, and guidelines of a journal article) so that NAPA lecturers can submit their articles to ARPA; NAPA would like EROPA to promote and introduce NAPA’s English version of the State Management Review to EROPA’s members and send newsletters on administrative expertise to be included in the Review; NAPA invited Dr. Brilliantes, Jr. to write an article for the State Management Review.
(3) Regarding the joint plan to co-organize international workshops between NAPA and EROPA (EROPA Secretariat and EROPA member organizations/individuals):
- Estimated time: June 2022
- Method of organization: hybrid, at NAPA and EROPA branches
- Workshop topics (these are two suggested topics from NAPA): “Smart cities development: The role of the government” and “Modernizing the civil service”.
(4) Regarding strengthening other cooperation activities between EROPA and NAPA: NAPA invited EROPA representatives to present at international workshops organized by NAPA and to deliver lectures at some refresher training programs at NAPA; NAPA requested EROPA to help connect with professors at Hiroshima University and GRIPS Japan to organize and carry out cooperation activities in training and refresher training at the request of the Minister of Home Affairs.
(5) Regarding the plan to organize the 2023 EROPA Conference in Vietnam: NAPA proposed that the Ministry of Home Affairs of Vietnam would be the host and NAPA would be the organizing unit. NAPA will invite senior leaders to attend this activity. The Conference is expected to take place by the end of October 2023 in Ha Noi. The Conference is expected to be held in a hybrid format. NAPA prioritizes the face-to-face format; however, until then, if some countries cannot attend the Conference directly, they can choose to participate online. About the topic and sub-themes of the Conference, NAPA will research and select topics to propose to EROPA. Dr. Nguyen Dang Que will welcome any topic suggestion and proposal from EROPA.
Dr. Alex Brilliantes, Jr. speaking at the meeting.
Responding to the issues addressed by Dr. Nguyen Dang Que, Dr. Brillantes, Jr. expressed his acknowledgement and support for NAPA’s proposal. He also made some comments on related contents:
- Regarding the international training program for trainers, EROPA has submitted a proposal to the United Nations (UN) to conduct the program “Integrating sustainable development goals in the curriculum for public administration” for four countries, namely Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The participants will not only acquire knowledge but also share the experiences and learn from their peers. The duration of the course is 4-5 days or 4-5 mornings, depending on the decision of the UN.
- Regarding the contents related to ARPA, Dr. Brillantes, Jr. said that the Editorial Board of ARPA comprises experts and well-known professors. He will send the editor’s job description to NAPA so that NAPA can select a suitable person. At the same time, he suggested NAPA experts and lecturers submit articles for the upcoming August issue of the Review with the topic “Governance response for the Covid-19 pandemic and lessons learned”.
- Dr. Brillantes, Jr. congratulated NAPA on the publication of the English version of State Management Review. This is a very good idea for the integration process of NAPA. He himself will submit his article to the Review and will provide EROPA’s information for publication in the Review.
- Dr. Brillantes, Jr. will support NAPA in organizing the international workshops in Vietnam in June 2022 in the hybrid form (face-to-face and online). He noted that the two workshop topics proposed by NAPA, “Smart cities development: The role of the government” and “Modernizing the civil service”, are excellent and interesting contents. He will personally participate and invite EROPA members to participate in the workshops.
- Dr. Brilliantes, Jr. expressed his strong support in helping NAPA to cooperate with Japan (Hiroshima School and GRIPS) in academic exchange, to send NAPA lecturers to refresher training programs or to Japan for training, to coordinate and organize the upcoming workshops, and to send civil servants and public employees to study and train in Japan.
- Regarding the plan to organize the 2023 EROPA Conference in Vietnam, Dr. Brillantes, Jr. noted that the suggested time (October 2023) is reasonable. EROPA already has a checklist for the EROPA host countries and will send it to NAPA for a better understanding of EROPA missions and duties of host countries. If the Conference is chaired by Vietnam’s Ministry of Home Affairs and organized by NAPA, this will expand the scale and raise the international prestige of the Conference. In 2022, the Conference will be held in Nepal. Dr. Brillantes, Jr. hoped that, as the host of the 2023 Conference, NAPA Executive Vice President would deliver a speech at the 2022 Conference.
NAPA would like to express our appreciation to the EROPA Secretary General for his valuable comments, his favorable impression of NAPA, and his strong sense of responsibility. On behalf of NAPA, Dr. Nguyen Dang Que affirmed that NAPA will actively and responsibly participate in EROPA’s activities as well as successfully organize the 2023 EROPA Conference.
Meeting participants at NAPA Headquarter in Ha Noi.
