“It’s 20 years since I last worked in Vietnam, and I am very impressed by what the country has achieved. Poverty has dropped to 10 percent, primary school enrolment is close to 100 percent and nearly everyone has electricity,” said Pamela Cox, World Bank’s Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific, on her first visit to Vietnam since being appointed Vice President in January, 2012.
During the trip, Cox met Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung; Vice Chair of the National Assembly, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan; Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, Nguyen Van Binh; Minister of Planning and Investment, Bui Quang Vinh; Minister of Finance, Vuong Dinh Hue to discuss Vietnam’s development challenges and opportunities.
She also expressed support for acceleration of reforms which will enable the Vietnamese economy to become more competitive, grow further and reduce poverty more quickly.
“Despite progress, stronger reforms are needed to reduce poverty. Restructuring of public investment, the financial sector and state-owned enterprises is critical to reduce risks to the economy and help Vietnam become a successful middle income country,” Cox said.
The World Bank’s programme in Vietnam has grown over the past four years with 52 active projects and programmes. However, Cox said, the government is not using available financing quickly enough and she urged the government to accelerate the implementation of projects and programmes to bring development results faster.
“Opportunities for the people, especially the poor and vulnerable, will increase if the Bank’s interest-free funding is used more efficiently. This will help more children enjoy higher quality education, more farmers reach their markets and more elderly receive better health services,” said Cox.
In response to press questions about Vietnam’s banking system restructuring, Cox said the WB will send a group of financial experts to Vietnam to help the Government determine the exact steps to be taken in August. Besides, the WB will also help Vietnam assess State-owned enterprises, classify and provide international experience for this sector restructuring.
Since banking is a complex industry, there is a need to have overall and clear assessment on bad debts to perform restructuring. Besides, it is impossible to apply one standard model for all situations.
The World Bank’s new Country Partnership Strategy for Vietnam (CPS) 2012 - 2016 supports three areas identified by the Government in its ten year Socio-economic Development Strategy 2011-2020: promoting human resources, improving market institutions, and advancing infrastructure development. It will support investments and policies: strengthening Vietnam's competitiveness in the regional and global economy; increasing the sustainability of its development; and broadening access to opportunity. The strategy also focuses on strengthening governance; supporting gender equity; and improving resilience in the face of external economic shocks, natural hazards and the impact of climate change.
Quynh Anh
Vietnamese
