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CELEBRATION OF
10th ANNIVERSARY OF INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
ACTIVITIES IN VIETNAM
The International Monetary Fund, the
World Bank and the Asian Development Bank confirm continued support
Hanoi, October 22, 2003
– Today, H.E. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai received
representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank on the occasion
of the 10th anniversary of the three institution’s
activities in Vietnam. During the meeting, H.E. Prime Minister Khai
acknowledged the important support provided by the three
organizations in the fight against poverty in Vietnam and for the
Government’s reform agenda over the last decade. H.E. Prime
Minister also expressed the Government’s desire for continued
cooperation in the future.
During the last 10 years,
the three institutions provided about $7.7 billion of funds to about
80 projects and nearly $300 million of grant funds to Vietnam. The
State Bank has been the “host” organization of the three
international financial institutions in Vietnam, facilitating their
activities and ensuring coordination between these organizations and
various Vietnamese counterparts in all sectors and levels of
governments.
On this occasion, the
international organizations also assured the Government their
continued support to Vietnam. World
Bank President James D. Wolfensohn
sent his comments from Washington DC. “From
a situation of relative isolation 15 years ago, Vietnam has emerged
into one of the most promising g of developing countries. Poverty
levels have been halved in a decade, social indicators are showing
steady progress, and trade in a number of areas is more open and
more competitive. The World
Bank, together with other development partners, is happy to be on
Vietnam’s side in building on the good success and translating them
into long-term and sustainable growth,” said Mr. Wolfensohn.
ADB President Tadao
Chino said in his written message from Manila to the Prime
Minister, “Viet Nam has shown in these ten years vigorous
commitment to economic reform and poverty reduction, and has
achieved significant results, these achievements include halving of
the poverty rate and steady growth in spite of an uncertain
international economic environment. ADB is proud of having been
associated with this progress, through our operations in Viet Nam
and the commitment jointly reaffirmed in the 2002 Poverty Reduction
Partnership Agreement. We value Viet Nam as an important partner for
subregional cooperation under the Greater Mekong Subregion program,
and will exert special efforts to expand the range of ADB assistance
to Viet Nam, on its road to modernization and prosperity.”
Mr. David Burton, Director of the IMF’s
Asia-Pacific Department, who is
visiting Hanoi to mark the anniversary, noted that: “Vietnam
has made impressive progress with economic development during the
last 10 years, achieving rapid growth in living standards and a
sharp reduction in the incidence of poverty. We at the Fund look
forward to working closely with the government of Vietnam in the
years ahead, as it seeks to build on these accomplishments and
further boost the living standards of the Vietnamese people.”
The
International Monetary Fund
The IMF has been an active development partner in Vietnam since
October 1993, providing financial support through a 1993 loan
facility (of about $190 million), a three-year loan facility in
1994-97 (of about $500 million), and, more recently, a three-year
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) in an amount of some
$400 million, covering the period 2001-2004.
The PRGF has been the
centerpiece of the IMF’s engagement in Vietnam since it was approved
by the IMF’s Executive Board in April 2001. IMF support for Vietnam
has been anchored around the implementation of the government’s
Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy, developed in an
interim form before the PRGF was approved and later finalized in May
2002. Particular emphasis has been given to those elements of the
CPRGS relating to the maintenance of macroeconomic and financial
sector stability – the issues at the core of the IMF’s mandate from
its 183 member countries.
Separately from the PRGF,
the IMF maintains an active policy dialogue with the government of
Vietnam, including through the annual review of macroeconomic and
financial sector developments policies that it conducts with each of
its member countries on an annual basis. The last such dialogue with
Vietnam took place in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in June 2003, and
was reviewed by the IMF’s Executive Board on October 3, 2003. A
press release summarizing the conclusions of that review will soon
be issued.
The IMF provides technical
assistance to the Government of Vietnam in several areas related to
macroeconomic and financial sector management. A tax
self-assessment program is being developed on a pilot basis in Quang
Ninh Province and Ho Chi Minh City. A comprehensive program to
improve the national accounts statistics has been underway since
2001. Advice and expertise has been provided to the State Bank of
Vietnam in the areas of financial sector reform and monetary
operations, and an enhanced program of assistance in these areas is
being discussed this week in Hanoi. In addition, the IMF conducts
specialist training programs for government officials, for which
officials are usually sent to the IMF’s training institutes at its
Washington headquarters and in Singapore and Vienna.
Vietnam has made
impressive progress in achieving growth in living standards and
alleviation of poverty during the past decade – but will also face
important challenges as it seeks to build on these accomplishments
in the years ahead. The IMF will work closely with the government in
seeking to address these challenges.
As IMF Senior Resident
Representative in Vietnam, Susan Adams, notes: “We in the
IMF see our role as that of a development partner of the government
of Vietnam, bringing our cumulative international experience to bear
in working with the government on issues relating to macroeconomic
and financial sector stability---the core areas of the IMF’s mandate
for all of its member countries.”
The
World Bank Group
“At the center of the World Bank’s activities in Vietnam is the
desire to assist the Government and people of Vietnam in their
efforts to raise living standards and improve the quality of life of
all citizens as laid out in Vietnam’s Comprehensive Poverty
Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS),”
said World Bank Director in Vietnam Klaus Rohland.
The
Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) 2003-2006 is directly
informed by and aligned to the CPRGS, which sets out three broad
objectives.
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The first
objective of the CPRGS, to support Vietnam’s transition to a
market-economy, will continue to be a central focus of the
Bank Group’s activities, with a shift in emphasis from
“design” to supporting the Government on “implementation” of
the policy reform agenda. To meet the second broad objective
of enhancing equitable, inclusive and sustainable
development, the CPRGS lays out a six-fold agenda. This
agenda will be actively supported throughout the Bank
Group’s work 2003-2006. Priorities addressed under this
theme include working with Government on narrowing the
development gap of disadvantaged areas; raising the living
standards of ethnic minorities; realizing gender equality;
making basic social services accessible and affordable for
the poor; mitigating the impact of natural disasters; and
enhancing environmental sustainability.
Within the
third broad CPRGS field of promoting good governance, the
Bank will focus its support on helping the Government
improve public financial management, information and
transparency, and to enhance legal development. Major
technical assistance will be provided in each of these
areas, and projects will be developed in Public Financial
Management, e-Governance, and possibly legal development.
In support
of these three major objectives, the CAS sets out the
planned World Bank program of assistance 2003-2006,
including analytical and advisory activities, project
support through the World Bank’s lending program, activities
to be carried out by IFC, MPDF and MIGA in support of the
private sector and investment, a series of annual Poverty
Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs) in support of Vietnam’s
transition, and partnerships and ODA coordination.
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In
Vietnam, World Bank-supported projects have
· Brought electricity to 2 million people
in 32 poorest provinces, transforming rural
communities, enabling small business to grow, and
allowing schools and health facilities to be
improved.
· Provided almost 250,000 households with
nearly 650,000 loans being made throughout rural
Vietnam for expanding farm production (crops,
livestock and aquaculture), agricultural processing,
services and trading.
· Worked in partnership to improve
year-round passable inland waterways for more than
16 million of Vietnamese rural poor.
Built and upgraded 15 Mother and Child health and
family planning centers, 137 obstetric and operation
rooms of district hospitals, 2606 communal health
center, 60 mountainous health posts, and organized
training courses for 22000 turns of medical workers,
particularly those in commune health centers |
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Since re-engaging in Vietnam in 1993,
the World Bank supported 35 projects to help fight poverty in
Vietnam through finance for agriculture, infrastructure, health
programs, schools and other essential needs. In the next 3 years,
the World Bank’s lending program to Vietnam will be in the range of
US$300-US$800 million per year, in direct support to Vietnam’s
Poverty Reduction objectives as laid out in the CPRGS, with a
primary focus in four sectors: rural development; urban development;
infrastructure; and human development.
The Asian Development Bank
Viet Nam was one
of the founder members of ADB in 1966. Since the resumption of
operations in 1993, ADB has provided 48 loans amounting to about
$2.7 billion including private sector operations and 141 technical
assistance grants for almost $98 million.
As the volume of
operations grew, ADB established its Vietnam Resident Mission (RMV)
in Hanoi in 1996 to provide more efficient services.
ADB and the
Government of Viet Nam signed a Poverty Reduction Agreement in 2002
as poverty reduction is the overarching goal of ADB. The Poverty
Agreement formalized a firm partnership and set out a long-term
vision to measurably reduce and eventually eradicate poverty in Viet
Nam based on the Government’s CPRGS. ADB actively participates in
Poverty Task Force and supported formulation of the CPRGS with other
ODA partners.
ADB approved its
latest Country Strategy and Program for Viet Nam in 2002. This
focuses on sustainable growth through rural and private sector
development; inclusive social development by mainstreaming poverty,
gender, and ethnic dimensions into relevant areas of assistance,
particularly secondary education and health; and good governance,
especially through public administration reform and selective
support for legal reform and public financial management.
The strategy also
focuses on poor provinces in the Central Region, to promote more
balanced regional development through community-level livelihood
projects and infrastructure expansion. The strategy also highlights
the benefits of Viet Nam through cross-border trade and access to
markets within the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and the expansion
of subregional tourism development. With the increasing role of GMS
cooperation, ADB is preparing a regional cooperation strategy and
program for GMS, due Board consideration in early 2004.
With ADB
assistance, some 1,160 km of highways have been completed, including
1,000 km of Highway No.1. More than 5,000 km of other roads are
serving Viet Nam. A total of 6.7 million people will be served with
clean water through water supply and sanitation projects and 200,000
hectares are to be irrigated by ADB financed projects. A first
Central Region Livelihood Improvement Project to achieve sustainable
livelihood for approximately 350,000 people, is under implementation
in the Central Coast and Highlands.
ADB also supported
the strengthening primary health care system at the commune and
district levels of 15 provinces, with emphasis on safe motherhood
and more broadly for family health, to improve population service.
The Lower Secondary Education Project has supported the improvement
of the overall quality and access to lower secondary education.
Early
this year, ADB approved a program loan supporting implementation of
the Public Administration Reform Master Plan. The project will
improve efficiency and reduce red tape, transaction costs, and
corruption, to which the poor are the most exposed.
Through the Resource Center located at VRM, ADB disseminates its
knowledge products and provides information services on-line to
public users. VRM recently began a research and capacity building
project aiming at generating knowledge on how to make markets work
better for the poor.
Looking ahead,
ADB’s total lending level for Viet Nam will be about $975 million
for three years from 2004 to 2006. Technical assistance grants
totaling $15 million plus co-financing will complement the loan
program to address Viet Nam’s need for capacity building, project
preparation, sector analysis, and institutional development.
ADB Vietnam Resident Mission’s Officer in Charge
Alessandro Pio said, “ADB will
continue to work closely and engage in frank and constructive
dialogue with the Government and other development partners,
providing financial and intellectual support to help achieve a
modern and prosperous Viet Nam while maintaining and enhancing
social and economic stability. ”
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Please visit the following web sites
for more information:
www.imf.org,
www.worldbank.org.vn,
www.adb.org
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