Australia and the UK will jointly fund a 285 billion VND project designed to help Vietnam maximise benefits of trade liberalisation and implementation of WTO commitments.
The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) signed an agreement on the funding with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade in Hanoi on Jan. 20.
The agreement covers the second phase of the “Maintaining Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Gains through WTO Commitment Implementation” technical assistance programme (often known as the “Beyond WTO programme).
Under the terms of the deal, AusAID will contribute 12 million AUD (180 billion VND) while DFID will contribute 3.4 million GBP (105 billion VND) to the programme.
The five-year programme, which started in September 2009, will also receive technical assistance from the World Bank.
It aims to support Vietnam’s efforts in creating jobs and speeding up hunger eradication and poverty reduction in its integration into the world’s economy by strengthening the institutions of the market economy in areas such as competition, State-owned enterprises reform and land management.
The project will also help rural areas cope with the impacts of economic integration through research and analysis of new market opportunities and build the capacity of key Vietnamese institutions that are implementing economic reforms.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang spoke highly of the support from the international community on the basis of donor harmonisation, government ownership and strengthened policy coordination among relevant Vietnamese agencies.
The minister said during the first phase from 2007-2008, the project already supported the development of the Government Action Plan and action plans prepared by agencies and provinces.
It also helped identify measures that Vietnam will take to maximise the benefits of WTO accession and assist poor and vulnerable populations share in these benefits.
The Australian Ambassador to Vietnam , Allaster Cox, said “Behind the border’s reforms are critical to ensuring that Vietnam is positioned to take full advantage of the resumption of trade and investment flows as the current downturn recedes.”
“As well as infrastructure and human resource development, taking advantage of the global recovery will require an increase in the international competitiveness of Vietnam ’s enterprises, sound frameworks for attracting long-term foreign investment and good policies to support business development,” he said.
While pointing out a fact that the poor are often the most affected by trade liberalisation, and many of them are women, DFID chief representative in Vietnam Fiona Lappin pledged to work with the Government of Vietnam to ensure that “the poor are in particular protected from any negative externalities associated with trade liberalisation and economic integration.”
The ‘Beyond WTO programme’ is a joint initiative of the governments of Vietnam , Australia and the UK and the World Bank./.