World Bank’s Country Partnership Strategy with Vietnam

The World Bank and Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment recently launched the World Bank Group’s New Country Partnership Strategy for Vietnam (CPS), outlining the strategic directions for the Bank’s engagements in Vietnam from 2012 to 2016. The new strategy will support reforms and investments key to Vietnam’s transition to become a successful middle income country.

 

The CPS is aligned with Vietnam’s Socioeconomic Development Strategy (SEDS) 2011-2020, and Socioeconomic Development Plan (SEDP) 2011-2015, which gives attention to structural reforms, environmental sustainability, social equity, and emerging issues of macroeconomic stability. It will support investments, programs and advisory services organized into a strategic framework of three pillars and three cross-cutting themes. The three pillars are: strengthening Vietnam's competitiveness in the regional and global economy; enhancing the sustainability of its development, and broadening access to social and economic opportunity. The cross-cutting themes are: strengthening governance; promoting gender equality; and improving resilience in the face of external economic shocks, natural hazards, and the impact of climate change.

For the new CPS period, the indicative allocation from the World Bank’s concessional arm, the International Development Association (IDA), to support Vietnam is about SDR 2.8 billion (equivalent to about US$4.2 billion). This would be Vietnam’s largest IDA allocation and reflects Vietnam’s strong performance as well as an increase in IDA resources overall. Vietnam will also have access to IBRD resources, proposed to be around US$770 million through mid-2014. 

 

The CPS also gives significant attention to results. It aims to achieve more timely delivery of results from World Bank financing, including through the use of simpler, results-based financing instruments and through accelerated implementation.

 

Since re-engaging with Vietnam in 1993, the World Bank has provided nearly US$14 billion in financing to help the country sustain growth and fight poverty.