From 2021, the World Bank has provided technical support to the Ministry of Planning and Investment regarding Regional Coordination and Integration Support in the Southeast. In cooperation with the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), the World Bank completed phase one of the technical assistance program by the end of 2022, including a diagnostic assessment to analyze development trends, challenges, and regional governance arrangements in the Southeast region; plans for improving the regional governance model for the Southeast region; a mechanism for prioritizing public investments in the region and recommending legal reform.

According to the World Bank in Vietnam, phase 2 of the technical assistance program is currently underway, including legal and institutional review, as well as developing a roadmap for implementing a new regional governance model for the Southeast region; developing a regional investment mechanism to finance investment and operating costs for priority area infrastructure projects and capacity building programs to establish regional visions among key stakeholders.

At the working session with Can Tho City, the World Bank specialists worked with Can Tho City’s leaders on the functions, tasks, and powers of the Mekong Delta Coordinating Council; the actual role of the locality in regional coordination and linkage activities of the Regional Council; organization and operation of the Coordinating Council of the Mekong Delta Region; the model, structure, and working mode of the Regional Council; assisting apparatus; agencies supporting the Mekong Delta Coordinating Council; the role of the Coordinating Council of the Mekong Delta in regional planning and investment; budget support for the Mekong Delta Coordinating Council; Current status of building information systems and databases in the Mekong Delta region...

According to Project Manager Dang Duc Cuong, surveys and visits to Mekong Delta localities will help the World Bank apply major lessons to amend and finalize the Prime Minister's Draft Decision on the establishment of the Southeast Region Coordinating Council issued by the Ministry of Planning and Investment in March 2023, and to develop a regional investment mechanism for the Southeast region.