Donors pledge VN over US$ 4.45 bil

Deputy PM Phạm Gia Khiêm presides over the closing session of the CG Meeting – Photo: VNGOVNet

Multilateral donors committed US$2.1 billion; bilateral donors, US$2.164 billion; and non-governmental organizations, US$180 million. Notably, the Asia Development Bank (ADB) made the biggest commitment of US$1.4 billion. The pledged funding for Vietnam in 2007 totaled US$4.45 billion, much higher than expected. Several donors undertook to carry on their support to Vietnam in the next five years as well as expand their scope and fields of support.

According to Minister of Planning and Investment Võ Hồng Phúc, Vietnam’s entry into the WTO and PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng’s talk to the donors and his commitments made to them at the meeting helped to raise Vietnam’s image in their eyes.  

The funding is reported to be earmarked for upgrading the country’s infrastructure, such as communication, bridges and culverts; education and training of human resources; and building new legislation. ODA will be disbursed immediately for three major projects planned to give a boost to economic development: trans-Vietnam Expressway, trans-Vietnam Railway and the underground in Hồ Chí Minh City.

Addressing the closing session, Deputy PM Phạm Gia Khiêm undertook that Vietnam will use the donors’ ODA in the most effective way. He revealed ten measures the Vietnamese Government will take to realize its five-year economic development plan (2006-2010) and fully observe its commitments to the WTO:

- To make Vietnamese people and enterprises fully and deeply aware of Vietnam’s commitments to the WTO;

- To speed up the pace of law construction (especially framework legislation targeting a favorable investment environment);

- To promote administrative reform (especially streamlining the administrative apparatus; improving managers’ skills; and renovating work-style to reduce red-tape);

- To improve competitiveness of State-run enterprises and the private sector;

- To strengthen the agricultural and rural economy with special attention being paid to remote and ethnic minority areas;

- To press ahead with poverty reduction, striving to halve the number of poor households by 2010 from 2000's level;

- To increase environmental protection, not to use out-of-date technologies in order to preserve the environment and sustain the economic development;

- To maintain socio-political security, ensuring that Vietnam is a safe destination for the international community;

- To promote democracy, transparency and social equality.

These measures will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval to become Vietnam’s national action program in the next five years in order to reach the set goals.

By Hoàng Nguyên Hồ