Poverty Reduction Grant (Danida)
Strengthening the Development Research
and Policy Analysis Capacity
of
the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM)
CIEM-NIAS project components
Mission report no. 1/2007
by
Jørgen Delman
NIAS Project Coordinator
November 2007
List of contents
1.Introduction
2.Summary
3.People met
4.Review of Work Plan 2007
5.Work Plan 2008
6.Meeting with the Danish Embassy
Appendices
1Work plan 2008
2Budget 2008 (including updated budget for 2005-2010)
3Budget for NIAS contingency: NIAS participation in “CIEM civil society forum”
Acronyms
CID / Centre for Information and DocumentationODP / Organizational Development Plan
TOR / Terms of reference
VEMR / VietnamEconomic Management Review
VNEP / Vietnam Economic Portal
1.Introduction
The mission was undertaken from 15-24November, 2007. The main purpose of the mission was:
1.Review of activities and outputs against WP 2007
2.Review of project management procedures
3.Review of financial management procedures
4.Elaboration of a Work Plan and a budget for 2008 for the CIEM-NIAS sub-project
5.Provisions for missions by other experts from NIAS
6.Discussion of potential research collaboration
The last mission was in November 2006.
2.Summary
The work plan for 2007(CIEM-NIAS project components) is being implemented according to schedule. The Center for Information and Documentation (CID) has followed its work plan, including the further development of the Vietnam Economic Portal (VNEP) and the CIEM web site. The Vietnam Economic Management Review will have published 6 issues in Vietnamese and 2 in English by the end of the year. The plans to develop a publishing strategy have not moved ahead, however, after a workshop on the topic early during the year.
The writer addressed a workshop organized by CID with the aim to setup a network of economic libraries. There were more than 20 participants from libraries in Hanoi. The network is a priority activity within CID’s program, since it – in the opinion of the Danish Embassy and the writer – is an opportunity for CIEM/CID to open up to and share its experiences with the wider field of information service providers in Vietnam.
A lecture was given at CID with the title: “China’s 17th Party Congress – 5 more years for Hu Jintao”. Over the years, the writer has given a number of lectures on different aspects of China’s political and economic reform process. There is considerable and continued interest in China’s reforms in Vietnam and CIEM is involved in many activities with a variety of Chinese partners.
The mission otherwise focused on elaborating a work plan for 2008 where the prioritities are:
- Continued support to development of CID services, CIEM’s web site and Vietnam Economic Portal
- Continued support to development of Vietnam Economic Managament Review
- A cautious and pragmatic approach is proposed indeveloping the planned publishing strategy. This should include a new design program for CIEM. Dr. Ding Van An has decided that Dr. Nguyen Xuan Trinh will take responsibility for coordinating this process.
- Participation in “Forum on civil society in transitional societies”
- Several training sessions for CIEM staff by Anja Møller Rasmussen
3.People met
Meetings were held with CIEM Director Dr. Dinh Van An, President; Mrs. Vo Xuen Nguyet Hong (CIEM-NIAS project director), Ms. Hoang Thu Hoa, Director, and Ms. LinhNguyen Thi Hai, CID; Mr. Nguyen Xuan Trinh, Vice President; Mr. Le Xuan Sang, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Vietnam Economic Management Review; and Mr. Vo Tri Thanh, Head of Research Department;Mr. Henrik Vistisen, Development Counsellor at the Danish Embassy, and a trainee (unfortunately, the name was not noted down).
Efficient support was given to the mission by the staff of the project office, Ms Giang and Ms Lien.
4.Review of Work Plan 2007
Overall assessment
- NIAS has implemented all planned inputs during the year within the budget allocated.
- Good progress has been made in all fields of activities at CIEM in which NIAS is involved, except in relation to development of the publishing strategy (see below). Currently, there is a need for consolidation of the publications program and reflection and planning of a pragmatic and operational strategic approach. This will happen in 2008.
Publishingstrategy
- A workshop was held as planned in March 2007to discuss the development of a publishing strategy, incl. organizational development, implementation and financing plans. The workshop was followed by a mini-workshop for the staff of Vietnam Economic Management Reviewon development of an electronic format for the English version of VEMR. From NIAS, Anja Møller Rasmussen, Chief Librarian, and Gerald Jackson, Editor-in-Chief, participated in the two workshops.
- During the workshop, Dr Dinh Van An, President of CIEM, announced a number of decisions on the future shape and direction of the Institute’s publication activities:
-CIEM would begin immediately with implementing a publication strategy, the project to extend for the life of the CIEM-Danida project, i.e. through to 2010.
-The initial phase of the project would comprise a pilot project to implement an electronic edition of the English edition of the Vietnam Economic Management.
-This project would be headed by Dr. Nguyen Xuan Trinh.
-VEMR staff under Dr Hao would take the lead role in the project but cooperation between VEMR and CID staff was required.
-At this stage, there was no intention to establish CIEM as its own publishing house
(excerpt from Gerald Jackson’s report, March 2007)
- Following these seminars, the two NIAS participants prepared detailed information for VEMR staff that should enable them to begin develop and implementan action plan for the a pilot project to transform VEMR into an electronic publication. This information included:
-Six different models (scenarios) for implementation of the e-VEMR.
-The different requirements for editorial and technical production of the e-journal.
-Options for disseminating and earning income from the e-VEMR.
-Advice that CIEM adopt a sensible pricing and revenue model.
-Suggestions for how CIEM might analyse its market position and subsequently promote the e-VEMR.
-Pointers to a wealth of resources (many without charge) that would assist CIEM define and reach its objectives.
- It is now clear that CIEM – following a debate over the last 2-3 years – will not establish a publishing house and that the responsibility for publications will rest with the researchers, the research departments and CID, as is already the case. Also, no progress has been made on the publishing strategy for the institute as such. Therefore, the publishing strategy must consider what CIEM could obtain from a more unified approach to publishing which does not jeopardize the existing areas of responsibility. This should be discussed during the course of 2008.Currently, Dr. Nguyen Xuan Trinh, Vice President of CIEM, has been assigned the task of coordinating this effort,but it must be made clear that he is actually in charge of managing the process.
Current publishing program
- CIEM’scurrent publishingprogram comprises the following elements:
-Academic publications by research staff: monographs, edited volumes, articles in journals, working papers,policy briefs, consulting reports; some are published externally and some in-house,both in English and Vietnamese. These publications are under the authority of individuals or individual research departments and CID. Some of these publications are results of research being done under this project.
-The annual publication: Vietnam’s Economy(according to the Principal author,Vo Tri Thanh, all issues of the report can now be put on the CIEM website)
-Vietnam Economic Management Review (VEMR): Dr Le Xuan Sang took over as Deputy Editor-in-Chief from Dr Tran Kim Haoduring the second half of 2007. The editorial work is now handled by Dr. Nguyen Xuan Trinh, Vice President of CIEM, and Dr. Sang jointly. VEMR will publish 6 Vietnamese issues and 2 in English in 2007 as planned. As of writing this report, 5 Vietnamese issues and 1 English had already been published this year. The main challenges facing VEMR now are to: Hire new staff, acquiring ms’es of adequate quality and in English language
-The contents of the first issue had a good standard and the mix of different types of content was appropriate. The lay-out of the journal has been upgraded and it is better structured than before.
-VMER is advertised on VNEP (see next point) with a link to CIEM’s web site, where three articles from each issue can be downloaded. The journal has been included in the UK International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) ( This means that VEMR is now internationally available in electronic format to subscribers
-CIEM also publishes on its two web sitesVNEP – Portal on Vietnam’s Economy( and CIEM’s web site ( Some of this is originalmaterial and some is dissemination of existing materials.
-A number of databases, from CIEM as well as external databases are also published on CIEM’s web site as planned. (
-Publications from this CIEM-Danida PRG project are made available on the project’s home page on the CIEM web site ( The home page is comprehensive and provides access to project publications as well as project documents. The design is good for easy access and all important documents are there. The Project Secretary, Ms Giang, has taken charge of this major effort. To enhance visibility of project publications, they could be lifted up to the main page as news items.
The implications for the future publishing strategy of the above is discussed under the Work Plan for 2008 below.
Centre for Information and Development
CID’s work is progressing according to plans (ref. Anja Møller Rasmussen’s report 2/2007).
Intranet
The Intranet is up and running with different functionalities and an increasing number of documents being shared (ref. Anja Møller Rasmusen’s report 2/2007).
ISO
The funding in 2008 will be used for professionalization and quality assurance of bidding procedures for state research projects.
Oorganizational Development Plan (ODP)
Implementation of recommendations in the ODP from 2006 are awaiting finalization of the current government restructuring process. It is expected that CIEM will remain intact and not be merged with other institutions. It is also expected that CIEM and similar institutes will get more autonomy in relation to certain aspects of their operations. But this is - as yet – undecided.
It was noted that several other research institutes in Vietnam have asked CIEM to provide a copy of their Organizational Development Plan (ODP) as a template for similar work.
5.Work Plan 2008
The work plan has been prepared on the basis of the stipulations of the project document with some proposals for continuing additional activities. They relate to elaboration of a publications strategy for CIEM, preparation of a format for electronic publishing of the English version of the Vietnam Economic Management Review, and development of an intranet at CIEM
Publishing strategy
Following the developments discussed above and after assessing the current status, CIEM is advised to consider the following elements in its publishing strategy:
- CIEM’s comprehensive and rich publishing program is a major asset for the institute in terms of promoting its public visibility and impact. As discussed in connection with the Organizational Development Plan, first elaborated in 2003 and later revised in 2006, branding of CIEM is important for creating both trust and impact in the external environment and for attracting external funding.
- The publishing program is a strategic element in the branding of CIEM and more visibility and impact could be attained through simple and pragmatic measures.
- CIEM could develop a publishing strategy that would focus on promoting CIEM as a ‘brand’ organization that delivers high quality research and policy advise. CIEM’s publications would be a cornerstone in such an effort.
For detailed proposal, see box below.
Proposal for a new approach to CIEM’s publishing strategy- It is proposed that thepublishing strategy should build on the current principle of decentralization while adding some value to the existing program and to CIEM’s brand status through coordination at the level of the top leadership in CIEM:
-This could be incorporated into a more comprehensive design program that would provide uniform formats/recognizable design elements to be used in all publications, no matter who publishes them and where, as well as on stationary, signs, gifts, cars, etc.
-The design program should be available on the intranet for everybody to use (compulsory)
-A common standard for quality assurance/peer review for all types of publications should be elaborated
-CIEM publications should be advertised constantly and target the appropriate target groups in different external and internal media. The internet is the best channel for this, and VNEP and CIEM’s website should be used to the maximum extent to promote the publications; however, many international service providers on the www would be willing to promote CIEM publications free of charge
-All CIEM publications should be delivered to the CIEM library for library use and for advertising on the CIEM home page and VNEP
-Publications should be in English whenever found qualified.
-All publications not for sale should be made available electronically in PDF format.
It is proposed that these ideas should be discussed in the publishing strategy which should be elaborated in 2008 with participation from all the relevant departments. NIAS would be happy to support this effort.
A Vietnamese designer could be hired under the consultancy budget line to elaborate a design program.
In accordance with the original Organizational Development Plan, it is proposed to hire a CIEM PR coordinator, who should be responsible for coordinating the implementation of the publishing strategy and the design program while harvesting information on CIEM publications without violating the principle of decentralization.
The plan to elaborate a publishing strategy should be part of the CIEM work plan for 2008 and could be included in the new legal document that will be issued in 2008 by MPI to stipulate the future mission, tasks and organization of CIEM.
Follow up: Nguyen Xuan Trinh in collaboration with Hoang Thu Hoa, Le Xuan Sang and heads of various research departments.
Vietnam Economic Management Review (VMER)
2008 is considered a year of consolidation for VMER. The main points are:
- Publishing target: 6 Vietnamese issues and 2 English.
- Originally, it was planned to turn VEMR into an electronic publication in 2008, but this will be postponed until 2009 to allow for time to build more experience and capacity in the editorial office (see next point).
- After a drain of staff in 2007, it is expected that altogether 6 staff members will be working for VMER in 2008. They need time to become acquainted with their tasks and the production process.
- The editors wish to make the production process more efficient.
- The editors want to solicit more international members of the Editorial BoardVMER.NIAS will assist in identifying candidates. It is proposed that VEMR editorial staff contact them directly and ask for their support to promote the journal within their networks as well as to be peer reviewers on manuscripts.
- The editors wish toconsolidate the peer review process and the international members on the Editorial Board could be helpful in reviewing the research based articles.
- Make the English version of VEMR better known internationally. Detailed proposals are made in the box below.
- Generate additional income: VEMR should still consider approaching international organizations in Vietnam such as World Bank and UNDP to see if they would be interested to advertise their publications in VEMR against a fee. The same could be done with other relevant national and international publishers, journals and magazines. It is not at good idea to have irrelevant commercial ads in the English version as it would defeat the impression of the journal as an academically trustworthy publication. However, sponsorship with listing of the sponsor’s name may be an option. NIAS will help identify such potential advertisers.
- Anja Møller Rasmussen will assist the VMER editors in establishing a thesaurus for indexing the journal and review their abstracting procedures.
It is recommended to make the numbering of the VEMR more accurate by adding a Volume number: Volume + sequential numbering+year (next year’s issues will then be numbered “Vol. 3, no. 3, 2008” and (“Vol. 3, no. 4, 2008).
The Editors asked for additional funding for posting VMER abroad. This can be solved by using the project office communications budget.
In 2009, the VEMR Editor-in-Chief still plans to publish 12 issues in Vietnamese and 4 issues in English in accordance with the stipulations of the current license of the journal and the project document.
HOW TO IMPROVE THE INTERNATIONAL VISIBILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY OF“VIETNAM ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT REVIEW”
The recommendations and suggestions made here are based on discussions about how CIEM wants to consolidate the production, marketing and distribution of VEMR in 2008. It is assumed that the English version of VEMR can be offered internationally at a subscription price, but with open access to 3 articles per issue. The articles will be peer reviewed/refereed. VEMR has already been assigned an ISSN number and it is recommend to adopt a more precise standard for numbering. VEMR is represented at Vietnamese Journals Online (see above).
1. Submit information about your journal to journal suppliers
This is where librarians look for new journals:
First register VEMR at:
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory (
Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory™ is a bibliographic database providing detailed, comprehensive, and authoritative information on serials published throughout the world. It covers all subjects, and includes publications that are published regularly or irregularly and are circulated free of charge or by paid subscription
…How do I get my publication(s) listed in Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory?
The fastest way is to access a print-ready form from the website, which can be faxed or mailed to the Editorial Office.