The annual training of the Vietnam Alliance for Tax Justice (VATJ) on May 30-31 in Hoa Binh took place successfully with the participation of member organizations including VESS, CEPEW, EPH, Oxfam at Vietnam, and Mineral Alliance partners including: PAN Nature, SUDECOM, CDI, CGFED and Pioneer Network. Five presentations and discussions provided in-depth and interdisciplinary knowledge about the mining industry in Vietnam.
? Associate Professor Dr. Lai Hong Thanh, Deputy Director General, General Department of Geology and Minerals of Vietnam, opened an in-depth look at the current situation of topography and minerals in Vietnam in the past and present, the mineral extraction process, as well as the current state’s policies on mining.
? Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thi Hoai Nga, University of Mining – Geology, gave a presentation on the role of businesses in the mining industry, and at the same time, brought participants closer to this field through real, interesting stories in which she herself had experienced.
? Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, Director of VESS, led the presentation with the concept of “resource curse”, which opened up the problem of the mining industry in terms of political economy through case studies in several countries.
? Mr. Phan Luan, CEPEW Researcher – contributed to the workshop by providing a gender lens in economic-political theory, especially the issue of gender-related division of labor which affects the labor market in general and the mining industry in particular.
? Ms. Phuong Nguyen, Co-Founder of EPH – the that plays the role of conveying social messages in VATJ, shared experiences of “softening” policy contents, bringing them to the masses through witty, interesting and profound animated media products.
The training produced some notable outputs. Participating organizations all highly appreciated the importance of dialogue between the state, businesses and local communities in order to promote the harmony of interests between the parties. This requires policies to consider indigenous socio-cultural factors and community participation in research, planning and implementation of mining policies.
Following the success of the training, in the coming time, the Vietnam Alliance for Tax Justice will continue to cooperate in implementing research, communication and advocacy activities on tax in the mining industry. Accordingly, this will lead to sustainable, effective exploitation, as well as fair rights and interests in this industry.
More pictures of the training:
