(MPI Portal) – On September 10th, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh had a meeting with Mr. Sundaran Annamalai, Executive Director of World Bank (WB) in charge of the Southeast Asia.
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Minister Bui Quang Vinh meets Mr. Sundaran Annamalai, Executive Director of WB in charge of Southeast Asia. Photo: Duc Trung (MPI Portal) |
The purpose of the Executive Director’s visit to the Ministry of Planning and Investment is to update the implementation, the problems arising in the implementation of WB projects in Vietnam to provide timely and practical support.
Mr. Annamalai said Vietnam was a crucial partner of WB, with 9 projects approved in Vietnam in 2013 worth over US$ 1 billion. Spontaneously, the representative of WB also endorsed socio-economic development achievements in Vietnam, meanwhile appreciated the conducting progress of the Millennium Development Goals, the active implementation of programs and projects, reform initiatives, economic development programs ... initiated by WB.
At the meeting, Minister Bui Quang Vinh thanked to WB for its support for Vietnam in socio-economic development, in the role as coordinator of investment cooperation, policy, organization of international consultations on issues of development of Vietnam.
To promote effective collaboration with WB, the Minister highlighted the issues needed to be resolved as soon as possible regarding the approval and acceleration of projects’ implementation, harmonization of administrative procedures of WB and Vietnam, limited capacity of project management units, lack of counterpart funds, slow premises clearance or poor capacity of design consultation.
Relating to the new goal and mission of WB regarding issues of poverty reduction and prosperous development, the Minister said that the National Target Program of Vietnam also include contents about sustainable poverty reduction and the New Rural Program. Accordingly, the Minister expressed the hope that WB would continue to support Vietnam with the aim of reducing poverty for extremely poor people and towards sustainable poverty alleviation in the country.
The Minister reaffirmed in the coming time Vietnam would continue to take advantage of the resources of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) of WB, the capital of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of WB group and from International Development Association (IDA) ... for socio-economic development, and also thanked WB for extension with an additional funding for IDA (IDA 17).
As the role as coordinator of WB in Southeast Asia, Mr. Annamalai committed that WB would continue to foster the partnership with Vietnam on the basis of Vietnamese benefits towards goals of growth and sustained development. /.
Phuong Linh
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