Vietnam is determined to increase the effectiveness of its management of official development assistance aid (ODA), speed up administrative reforms and stamp out corruption.

That was the message delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem at the ongoing mid-term Consultative Group to Vietnam Meeting (CG), in northern Quang Ninh province's Ha Long city, on June 1.

Addressing the meeting, Deputy PM Khiem said that the Vietnamese government has put a priority on improving the legal framework for better management of official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct and indirect investment.

"Increasing aid effectiveness is a huge concern and the Vietnamese government has been working together with its partners to implement the "Hanoi Commitment", the deputy PM said.

At the meeting, which drew the participation of Government's officials and representatives of bilateral and multilateral donors, the deputy PM also paid special attention to the challenges and difficulties facing Vietnam in the future.

Recalling the record amount of ODA that was committed at last year's CG, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said that obviously the country was progressing with help from foreign donors in improving aid effectiveness.

According to James Adam, World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific region, who is also co-chairman of the meeting, Vietnam is at an important point of development and the country's successes in remaining high economic growth rate and reducing poverty over the last decade are known by the world, he said.

During the meeting, representatives of the Vietnamese government and donors spoke on "hot" issues relating to the country's economy and society, such as the war on corruption, challenges during the implementation of WTO commitments and the continued assessment of the socio-economic development plan for the 2006-2010 period.

The meeting's agenda also included several social problems that are considered new challenges to Vietnam's development which were water security, environmental sanitation, HIV/AIDS and traffic safety.

The continued building of a legal framework for ODA use was again a focal point of discussion along with measures to boost ODA effectiveness and disbursement in Vietnam.

Participants also spent a half-day on a field trip to ODA-funded projects relating to infrastructure, health care and the environment in Quang Ninh.  


Source: Vietnam Agency