Conceived in 1999 and formulated by way of a cultural agreement between the then Ministry of Culture and Information and Sida (the Swedish International Development Agency), the Việt Nam-Sweden Cultural Co-operation Project aims to assist the Vietnamese government to develop a cultural policy with the long term objective of enhancing the intellectual standard of the people. Following the submission of recommendations by overseas consultants, the first phase of the project - lasting from 2000 to 2003 - sought to undertake a comprehensive cultural policy review with a view to developing a National Report on Vietnamese culture. This National Report was then evaluated and tested before the drafting of the final cultural policy document in 2004. However, at the time of writing this National Report has been placed indefinitely on hold.