Final Report (Year 2) – Viet Nam Asia Pacific Green Public Procurement Partnership Project 2019. 02 Copyright © Korea Environment Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI), 2019 This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission from the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source is made. KEITI would appreciate receiving a copy of any publication that uses this publication as a source. No use of this publication may be made for resale or for any other commercial purpose whatsoever without prior permission in writing from the KEITI. i Acknowledgement The work behind this Report was overseen by the Advisory Committee of the Asia Pacific Green Public Procurement Partnership Project, composed of Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute (KEITI), UN Environment Asia Pacific Office, UN Environment Economy Division and ICLEI Europe office. It provided advice and oversight to the Project, as well as contributed to several research steps including reviewing the methodologies and results of the Preliminary Study and providing advice on the formulation of Action Plans and so on. The Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute has commissioned the research and analysis presented in this report to Smart Eco, Inc., South Korea. Many others contributed to the Study, including the members of the Advisory Committee, focal points of each partner country that participated actively through all the consulting items. Government officials and experts also provided their opinions on the Legal recommendations and GPP criteria. The Asia Pacific Green Public Procurement Partnership Project was made possible by a grant allocated by the Korean Environmental Industry and Technology Institute. Coordination Team Strategic guidance and review by Dongwook Lee, Hyunju Lee, and Aran Chae (KEITI) Advisory Committee of the Project Hyunju Lee (KEITI); Farid Yaker Claire Thiebault, Mushtaq Memon, Henrik Jakobsen (UN Environment), and Philipp Tepper (ICLEI) National Focal Point (Vietnam) Nguyen Minh Cuong and Nguyen Thanh Nga (Vietnam Environment Administration, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment) Consultants and Reviewers Trinh Huong Nguyen, Nguyen Thi, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Nguyen This Lam Giang, Nguyen Thi Thuy Hang, Nguyen Quang Vinh, Nguyen Thi Bich Hoa, Mijeong Lee, Youngchae Heo, Hyunsuk Kim and several other governmental and nongovernmental reviewers Research and Writing Team Research and writing of this report by Ik Kim and Youngwoon Yoon (Smart Eco) ii Executive Summary ▮ Introduction (Purpose) The Asia-Pacific Green Public Procurement Partnership Project aims to establish the foundation for Green Public Procurement (GPP) and promote its implementation by strengthening the capacities of partner countries and providing support for the creation of a market for environmentally- friendly products and services by transferring the experience of Korea in operating GPP and eco- labeling scheme. (Project Partners) Figure 1 shows the organizations involved in the project. ▼ Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute took overall leadership for the project, providing funds for the operation of the project and coordinating with the partner countries. As the Operating Agency of GPP and eco-labeling program in Korea, KEITI provided consultation on experience and expertise of Korea, and supported direction setting in project implementation. ▼ Focal Points, the appointed lead government agencies of the partner countries, provided necessary cooperation for the project activities. ▼ SMaRT ECO, Inc. carried out the key activities of the project as the Implementing Agency, and sought validation by external experts for some of the technical elements of this process. ▼ For some of the consulting items, local research institutions or consulting companies were employed as Supporting Agencies. Certain tasks were assigned to Supporting Agencies capitalizing on their local and institutional knowledge, networks and language capabilities. ▼ An Advisory Committee composed of Economy Division and Asia-Pacific Regional Office of UN Environment, European Office of ICLEI, and KEITI provided advice on project direction and methodologies. iii [Figure 1] Project implementing mechanism (Main Activities of Year One) The following summarizes the first year of the project’s implementation in 2017. ▼ The Implementing Agency assessed the current status of, and future plans for GPP and eco- labeling schemes in Viet Nam, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia through literature review and interviews. The Implementing Agency then prepared a preliminary study report, which integrated a SWOT analysis and reflected the demand for technical support expressed by the countries. ▼ The project Advisory Committee selected Thailand and Viet Nam as partner countries for Year Two of the project based on the results of the preliminary study. Selection criteria included: the willingness to participate in the project, political willingness to implement GPP, the need for consulting support, and the possibility of advancement of GPP in the country. ▼ As the first step to establish the Action Plans, the Implementing Agency identified potential consulting items that could be provided to these countries, considering the relevant expertise in Korea, and shared them with Focal Points. ▼ For the potential consulting items sent to the partner countries, the Focal Points of the partner countries have notified their priorities to the items that the supports from Korea are most needed. Partner countries and the Implementing Agency reached final agreement on the consulting items and subsequently prepared draft Action Plans. ▼ The Implementing Agency shared draft Action Plans with the Focal Points and relevant line ministries for each country. The Implementing Agency revised the Action Plans following the discussions made at the Interim Meeting (early November 2017), and finalized the Action Plans during workshops held in each partner country in late November 2017. iv ▼ In addition, a knowledge-sharing workshop for the Focal Points and related ministry officials was held in Korea in connection with the meeting held in early November 2017. (Detailed Goals) The following detailed goals have been established for the implementation of the Action Plans, which is the main activity of Year Two, and for the presentation of follow-up projects. ▼ Customize implementation of the Action Plan established for the partner countries. ▼ Establish a foundation to help establish project within the region. ▼ Share and present the outcomes achieved in comparison to the goals set. ▼ Propose follow-up projects upon completion of the project. (Consulting Items) In Year Two, the Implementing Agency focused on implementing the Action Plans established for the partner countries. The following consulting items were agreed for the project. ▼ For Viet Nam, the following series of activities were planned to establish a basis for GPP implementation: (1) GPP-related laws of Viet Nam will be reviewed in order to modify the legal basis for GPP. Then, recommendations for the enactment and revision of these legal documents will be proposed by benchmarking the Vietnamese legal system with that of Korea. (2) Develop criteria to support the selection of environmentally-friendly products in the market during the public procurement process. (3) Provide a methodology for GPP and develop guidelines for strengthening the capacities of government procurers. (4) Propose a short-term roadmap to support the pilot implementation of GPP by transferring the institutional knowledge of Korea. (5) Support capacity-building and awareness-raising for GPP stakeholders, including policy- makers, procurers, and manufacturers. ▼ For Thailand, promotion of GPP for construction and building materials was selected as one of the new priority areas for support: (1) Establish a foundation for GPP by developing criteria for construction and building materials. (2) Present recommendations for incentives that promote GPP in a manner appropriate to Thailand by benchmarking other countries’ systems, including Korea. (3) Transfer Korean institutional knowledge through the establishment and activation of green v building expert networks between Korea and Thailand. (4) Support activities to raise awareness around and promote GPP in the construction sector for a diverse range of stakeholders, including procurers, experts, and manufacturers. [Figure 2] Consulting Items for Partner Countries ▮ Consulting items for Viet Nam (Overview) Viet Nam announced the national strategy on green growth to promote Green Public Procurement and established the National Sustainable Development Goals (VSDGs). ▼ Since the GPP has not yet been fully implemented in Viet Nam, this project is focused on establishing the basis for introducing the system necessary for the implementation of GPP. ▼ The Implementing Agency proposed the legal framework, GPP criteria, and GPP guidelines in the consultation process, and a GPP roadmap for the pilot implementation, an alternative item for pilot implementation, previously prepared since the related regulations for the pilot implementation did not come into effect in the first half of 2018. ▼ The following diagram depicts the relationship among the consulting items in Viet Nam. vi [Figure 3] Relationship between consulting items in Viet Nam [Revise or modify the legal framework] In order to improve the legal basis for the implementation of GPP, the