On the theme of social development and management in East Asia: its characteristics and experience, the workshop was held by the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences. It is part of a research programme on social development management during Vietnam ’s renovation process.

Discussions focused on whether or not there is an existence of a model for social development and social development management in East Asia and what constitutes a proper model for Vietnam at the moment.

Some claimed that there is yet such a model for East Asia as a whole and each country in the region has their own model for social development. 

As for Vietnam, the participants agreed that although its economy has progressed and the people’s living standards have improved significantly over the last 20 years, there remain shortcomings in the state’s social policies management capacity.

From their studies on social development policies prevalent in East Asian countries like China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and the Republic of Korea, the sociologists made recommendations on how to create a model of social development for Vietnam that takes into consideration the immeasurable changes in the country’s political and economic life.