The objective is to disseminate experience and lessons learned following the introduction of an Output-Based Approach (OBA) to support private sector investments in clean water and sanitation program. Part of teh process is to advocate OBA as a good approach which promotes accountability and sustainability in the delivery of services in rural water supply in Vietnam, at the provincial, regional and national level.

Funding for this activity has been approved.

Government of Vietnam (GOVN) has just issued the Socialization Policy which, among other incentives, allows public funds to support private sector investments.  MARD will need to implement this policy in 2010 and has requested the assistance of EMWF in piloting the OBA approach.

Donors are seeking successful ways to get involved in a sector suffering from very heavy government procedures and bureaucracy, translating into slow progress, and inadequate attention to services sustainability while the sector is in great need for infrastructure and access development, in order to meet the MDGs.

The OBA pilot with private sector investments is underway in Tien Giang province.  MARD and other provinces are waiting for results to gain experience before replicating in other parts of Vietnam

The socialization policy will trigger many more private interests in rural water supply.  They will need training in the OBA approach so that government funds can be used eventually to support private operators. Overall, teh potential to increase access to water and sanitation services in Vietnam and by extension the impact on quality of life is significant.

The rationale for GPOBA funding this activity is that  it is an opportunity to build on the momentum created with donors and MARD during the last GPOBA supervision mission to Vietnam. Further, this is an opportunity for GPOBA to start work on sensitizing Government and donors about the potential for scaling up at a later time. 

Mario Saurdi