TVSEP 2025 Conference at UEH: Discussion on Poverty and Sustainable Development in Thailand and Vietnam

11 Mar, 2025

From March 5 to 7, 2025, UEH College of Economics, Law and Government in cooperation with Thailand Vietnam Socio Economic Panel (TVSEP) successfully organized a series of academic activities, including the TVSEP Data Capacity Building Workshop and the TVSEP Conference with the theme "Poverty Dynamics and Sustainable Development in Thailand and Vietnam".

Dr. Tran Thi Tuan Anh - Vice Rector of UEH College of Economics, Law and Government -delivering the opening speech of the TVSEP academic series

Opening the series, the short training course on the topic "TVSEP data user" on March 5, 2025 fully introduced the TVSEP dataset along with research ideas from this dataset. Users participating in the workshop were also introduced to skills to exploit information from the TVSEP dataset. The workshop attracted more than 60 participants domestically and internationally. Speakers presented topics around the use of the TVSEP dataset as follows: "Monetary & multidimensional poverty", "Return migrant & crime data", "Asset dynamics & structural poverty", "Weather shock & risk preferences", along with the instructions on writing and presenting a research paper that meets international standards.

Ms. Eva Seewald presentting the topic “Monetary multidimensional poverty”

Overview of the Capacity Building Workshop “The Data User”

Participants taking a photo after the “TVSEP Data User Workshop” training course

After the short training course on TVSEP data, the academic series continued with the TVSEP conference on “Poverty Dynamics and Sustainable Development in Thailand and Vietnam”. The conference took place in the afternoon of March 6, 2025 and the morning of March 7, 2025 with the participation of more than 100 researchers from Vietnam and many other countries like the UK, Germany, Thailand, Spain, Malaysia, etc.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Khanh Nam delivering the opening speech at the TVSEP 2025 Conference

The TVSEP conference - a landmark event - has provided a forum for scholars, experts and researchers to discuss important issues regarding poverty, inequality, social mobility, financial inclusion, climate change, migration and agricultural transformation. Through insightful data analysis and practical policy recommendations, the conference aims to promote sustainable development in Vietnam and Thailand.

Prof. Dr. Ulrike Grote presenting a new report at the plenary session

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trung Thanh presenting a new report at the plenary session.

Highlights of the conference are as follows:

The conference took place with many in-depth thematic discussion sessions, focusing on important topics:

+ Health and Society: The Impact of Poverty on Education and Health in Southeast Asia.

+ Inequality and Social Impact: Asset Inequality and the Role of Ethnic Minorities in Persistent Poverty in Vietnam.

+ Migration and social effects: The impact of return migrants on social conflict in rural areas.

+ Financial Inclusion and Prosperity: The Relationship Between Financial Access and Household Prosperity.

+ Transformation in agriculture, food supply chains and rural economic development dynamics: discussing the close linkages between these aspects to promote sustainable development in rural areas

+ Climate change and environment: Farm household adaptation to climate change and the impact of weather conditions on agricultural production.

+ Digital transformation and economic stability: The impact of the Internet on social trust and agricultural trade.

+ The impact of Covid-19 and other external shocks on poverty and sustainable development.

+ ATSAF-TVSEP Special Session: Discussion on the need for further research and the future of TVSEP.

Parallel discussion session on the topic: “Health and Social Factors”

Parallel discussion session on “Impact of Covid-19 and other external shocks”

Parallel panel discussion on “Agricultural Transformation, Food Systems, and Rural Economic Dynamics”

Key Insights from the conference

A special panel discussion at the end of the conference, moderated by Prof. Javier Revilla Diez, focused on the need for further research in TVSEP, with contributions from Prof. Dr. Pham Bao Duong - Vice President of Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry and co-investigator of the project, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Khanh Nam - Rector of CELG-UEH and Member of the Board of Directors of TVSEP, Nipon Poapongsakorn - Director of the Thailand Development Research Institute and Member of the Board of Directors of TVSEP, Tuantong Jutagate - Vice President of the Council of Ubon Ratchathani University, Christiane Joerk - DFG Research Foundation and Prof. Dr. Nguyen Trung Thanh - Director of the TVSEP project.

In this discussion session, the experts contributed many opinions on the development orientation of TVSEP:

+ Mr. Nipon Poapongsakorn emphasized the potential of TVSEP to become a more accessible dataset. In addition, there was a need for detailed guidelines on how the variables in the dataset were regenerated. This would facilitate research and teaching based on the TVSEP dataset, especially in undergraduate and graduate courses.

+ Mr. Tuantong Jutagate affirmed that data from TVSEP could serve for research and was an important source of information for policy proposals when combined with other data sources.

+ Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Khanh Nam pointed out some research gaps in the current use of TVSEP data, for example, the lack of comparative studies between Thailand and Vietnam, the need for more in-depth research on the long-term impacts of economic and climate shocks, and the need to narrow the gap between academic research and policy research. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Khanh Nam also suggested that the use of TVSEP data, in the future, should be expanded to many different fields and promote multidisciplinary approaches."

Discussion panel: Insights from the conference and further research needs

In addition, experts discussed the expansion of the TVSEP survey to other regions and encouraging younger generations to participate in data research. Some suggestions were also made to improve the effectiveness of communicating scientific information to policy makers, like using accessible policy briefs or collaborating with the mass media.

Contributions to sustainable development

The TVSEP 2025 academic series is not only a place for academic meetings and exchanges but also contributes to promoting interdisciplinary cooperation and building policies based on empirical evidence. As a co-organizer, UEH continues to affirm their pioneering position in the research direction of sustainable development while creating a bridge between academia and policy makers to improve the quality of life in Vietnam and the Southeast Asian region.

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