Hanoi – From 21 to 23 July 2026, the second “Capacity Building Workshop” for the Project Management Units (PMUs) under the Vietnam–Italy Debt for Development Swap Program was successfully held in Da Nang.
Building on the success of the first workshop held in Hanoi in April, which focused on procurement management, this second training event addressed two key areas: Project Management and Data Management. While the Vietnam–Italy Debt for Development Swap Program has established a €7.69 million Development Finance Facility to support climate and environmental sustainability projects implemented by Vietnamese local authorities, the workshop was delivered as part of the Italian Cooperation’s grant-funded technical assistance component, which complements the Facility by strengthening the implementation capacity of the PMUs. Representatives of the PMUs implementing these projects actively participated in three days of interactive training and practical learning activities.
The Project Management module introduced internationally recognized principles and tools, providing participants with a structured framework covering the entire project lifecycle, from planning and governance to implementation, monitoring, risk management and project control. A key feature of the workshop was its practical approach: participants applied the methodologies directly to their own projects through case studies, group work and peer discussions, while practical templates and management tools were introduced to support day-to-day project implementation.
The Data Management module strengthened participants’ capacity to identify, organize and manage project data more effectively, while introducing practical approaches to data standardization and information sharing among project stakeholders.
Mr Marco Gaspari, Debt Swap Program Manager at AICS Hanoi, emphasized that the initiative is built on the principle of co-management. He highlighted that the capacity-building workshops, designed in response to the needs identified by the PMUs themselves, reflect Italy’s commitment to supporting Vietnamese partners throughout project implementation and to strengthening local institutional capacities.
Participants highly appreciated the relevance of the topics, the interactive training methodology and the practical nature of the exercises, expressing their interest in further capacity-building opportunities in the future.
One of the highlights of the workshop was the participation of Mr Hoang Hai, Vice Director General of the Department of Debt Management and Foreign Economic Relations at the Ministry of Finance. As the first occasion bringing together all key stakeholders of the Programme, the event provided a valuable platform for PMUs to present project progress and discuss implementation challenges directly with both the donor and government counterparts.
The workshop marked another important step in strengthening coordination, knowledge sharing and institutional capacity, reinforcing the collaborative approach that underpins the successful implementation of the Vietnam–Italy Debt for Development Swap Program.
