Vietnam Seeks More Foreign Aid to Meet 2006-10 Development Plan

Vietnam Seeks More Foreign Aid to Meet 2006-10 Development Plan

The Vietnamese government called for more assistance from international donors during the 12^th Consultative Group Meeting in Hanoi yesterday to help the country achieve its development goals until 2010 including a target of reaching annual economic growth of 7.5-8.5 per cent in the 2006-10 period.

"In the past four years, Vietnam has maintained a comparative high economic growth and is expected to grow at a high rate of 7.4 per cent annually, (not meeting a planned target of 7.5 per cent)" said Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister Khoan. "However, the country is facing risks of economic backwardness, and therefore rapid and sustainable growth will be our top priority in the next five years."

Mr. Khoan said one of the decisive factors is to mobilise and use capital sources effectively, including those from the State budget, local people, foreign investors and official development assistance (ODA) inflows. He stressed the need to build a complete market system, including the capital market, science-technology market, real estate market and labor market. He hoped that donors would help Vietnam implement this task.

Mr. Khoan also hoped to seek donors" assistance in forecasting market fluctuations and sharpening the national economy’s competitive edge in order to penetrate deeply into the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) and prepare for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

He also sought donors’ expertise and assistance in economic restructuring, industrial development and employment to obtain a rapid and sustainable growth till 2010.

Mr. Khoan affirmed that the Vietnamese Government would continue to prioritize poverty reduction programs. He said that currently 9 per cent of Vietnamese households are living under the poverty line, which is far above the average world figure. He said the Vietnamese Government and its people would do more to bring the country out of poverty by 2010.

Co-organized by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the World Bank (WB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), this year’s meeting will focus on:

Achievements, challenges and prerequisites for socio-economic development in the 2006-2010 period.

After two years of receiving a total of US$1.4 billion in ODA allocations, Vietnam broke records last December when donor countries and international development organizations agreed to donate around US$2.8 billion to support Vietnam’s poverty reduction and development agendas.

In the 2001-2005 period, Vietnam has signed agreements to receive ODA totaling US$13.3 billion, including US$10.3 billion in preferential loans. The actual disbursement in this period is expected to be US$8.2 billion, Phuc said.