This article investigates the private sector participation in investment, management, and operation in rural water supply schemes in Vietnam. Different organizations manage rural water supply facilities, including the private sector, public sector, and others. This paper aims to compare the different characteristics affecting user satisfaction of water supply facilities managed by the private sector and the remaining sectors. An ordered logit model was utilized for calculation with the data collected from semi-structure questionnaires with 1200 households using water from rural water supply systems managed by different sectors in Vietnam. The results indicate that the water-user satisfaction with rural water supply projects managed by the private sector is higher than that in other sectors (community, cooperative, commune people’s committee), whereas there is no significant difference in customer satisfaction between systems managed by the public sector and the private sector (enterprise, private management). The water availability and quality of schemes greatly influence the customer satisfaction. Findings from this study provide considerable information for the private sector on how to improve the management and operation of water supply systems efficiently through customer satisfaction assessment.

This paper overviews Vietnam’s outcomes in implementing policies in the rural water supply and then applies a Delphi technique to determine the key factors in attracting the private sector in the context. Five factors were identified, including: government commitments; a unit at the central level to support projects; an authority at the local level to promote the activities of projects; guaranteed financial capacity to support projects; and a legal framework for the realization of projects. The findings from this study provide insights that may promote the participation of the private sector in Vietnam. The paper offers some lessons for other developing countries to pursue similar approaches.