HANOI, June 20, 2012 – World Bank Vice President for Concessional Finance & Global Partnerships, Axel van Trotsenburg, concluded a three- day visit to Vietnam during which he visited projects in Hoa Binh province, and met with Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai, Minister Vuong Dinh Hue, Ministry of Finance, Vice Minister Cao Viet Sinh, Ministry of Planning and Investment, and Deputy Governor Le Minh Hung State Bank of Vietnam, to discuss ways to further strengthen the Vietnam-World Bank partnership.
Mr. van Trotsenburg, who is responsible for the International Development Association (IDA) – the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries – stated that "Vietnam is one of the top performers among the 82 IDA countries and represents an important development success story. Our goal is to continue to support Vietnam as it works towards meeting its next development challenges.”
In meetings with the authorities, Mr. van Trotsenburg discussed the broader strategic issues related to the global IDA partnership involving donors and beneficiary countries. He noted that "the Vietnam experience in reducing poverty should be more broadly shared with other lower-income IDA countries, which could learn from its success in reducing poverty in a relatively short amount of time.”
IDA supports country-driven programs. In Vietnam, this is reflected in the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) recently agreed with the government through June 2016. The CPS will concentrate on further supporting Vietnam in increasing its competitiveness, ensuring sustainability of the important gains achieved in poverty reduction and creating more economic and social opportunities for its population.
Vietnam has successfully reduced its poverty rate from 58 percent in 1993 to 14.5 percent in 2008, and real income has grown by 7.3 percent per year over the last 10 years. The country has registered striking gains in education as well as in providing electricity for city and rural residents. IDA has contributed to this success through finance for economic reforms, agriculture, infrastructure, health programs, and schools, among other things.
IDA has provided Vietnam with US$13.2 billion in concessional financing. Vietnam's effective use of IDA financing to produce strong development results contributed to the successful replenishment of IDA's pool of funds available for the period of July 2011 - June 2014. During those three years, reflecting the country's strong performance, Vietnam is expected to receive US$4.2 billion of IDA resources.
