The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will further support Vietnam in the social and economic development from now to 2010, ADB Country Director in Vietnam, Ayumi Konishi, said in a statement.
The statement was released before the visit to the Southeast Asian country by ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda slated for February 19-21.
Ayumi Konishi said with over US$4 billion the bank will help Vietnam meet the needs of the five-year development plan.
The bank will place its support on "business-led economic development" with the main focus on addressing four key constraints for Vietnam, including infrastructure deficiencies, remaining regulatory problems or "red-tapes," inefficiency in financial intermediation, and weak capacity in human resource development.
Konishi added that the ADB will also help the Government ensure environmental sustainability, through better natural resource management as well as through investments in improving urban environment, and to address the issue of climate change.
In the statement, Ayumi Konishi highly appreciated Vietnam's efforts in ensuring effective use of unofficial development assistance (ODA) resources, not just ADB loans but all the assistance being made available by the development partners.
The Vietnamese government has made two important efforts in controlling corruption and improving efficiency in ODA management through decentralization, by delegating greater responsibilities to line ministries and provinces, the ADB official added.
“We appreciate the strong leadership of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, and the efforts of various Government agencies including the Government Inspectorate and the State Audit Office, as well as law enforcement agencies,” the director highlighted.
As of late 2006, the ADB had already provided assistance amounting to about US$4 billion since its first operation in Vietnam in 1993.
Together with its strategy to support Vietnam in the 2006-2010 period, the ADB is the largest ODA provider in Vietnam in terms of the size of the annual assistance program since 2007. (Vietnam Economic Times, Pioneer)
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