A workshop in Hanoi on July 21 discussed the UK’s experience in building an evaluation system for policy impact assessment reports and the feasibility of applying such a system in Vietnam.

The gathering was co-organised by the Ministry of Justice and the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

In his opening address, Nguyen Hong Tuyen, head of the ministry’s Department of General Affairs on Legislative Development, said policy impact assessment is an important activity that helps competent bodies select optimal and realistic policies, which is mandatory under the 2015 law on legal document issuance.

While such evaluations have improved the general quality of policies and legal documents in Vietnam, shortcomings, particularly the meagre and inadequate content of assessment reports, have been noted, according to Tuyen.

This is why measures to evaluate the quality of such reports are necessary, he affirmed.

Gareth Ward, UK Ambassador to Vietnam, said the UK is willing to share its experience in building its evaluation system in order to help the country ensure transparency and improve the quality of its legal documents.

Rachel Holloway, an expert on regulatory reform from the UK department, noted that independent evaluation leads to quality and evidence-based regulations and that an assessment agency needs support from authorities in order to be able to question relevant management agencies.