A conference was held in Hanoi on June 23 to review the implementationof agreements reached at the previous Vietnam Development PartnershipForum ( VDPF ), a policy dialogue forum between the VietnameseGovernment and development partners functioning as a replacement for itspredecessor, the Consultative Group (CG) Meeting.
Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Investment and Planning(MPI) Nguyen The Phuong said the MPI has been working with relevantagencies and localities to implement commitments made at the VDPF, with afocus on poverty alleviation, especially among ethnic minority groups.
This includes drawing up, reviewing, revisingand issuing new regulations and legal documents; reviewing existingprogrammes and policies; building new programmes; reducing the dispersalof policies; increasing coordination; integrating development goals;and increasing connections among policies.
Through cooperation between Vietnam and development partners representedby the World Bank, Vietnam has concentrated on important areas such aspoverty alleviation, increasing disadvantaged groups’ access to servicesand the participation of the private sector in providing publicservices, protecting the environment and increasing the competitivenessof the workforce through vocational training and skill development.
According to the MPI’s report, poverty reduction efforts have helpedimprove living standards among ethnic minority groups.
The rate of impoverished households nationwide has fallen from 58percent in 1993 to 5.97 percent in 2014 and the rate among ethnicminority households continues to fall by an average of three to fourpercent yearly.
In addition, 84.5 percent ofrural population have access to safe water and 62 percent of householdsnationwide have toilets meeting hygienic standards.
The country has 1,456 vocational training centres, up 100 centresfrom 2014, and training curriculum has shifted to meet market demandsand the requirements of economic development.
Atthe conference, experts proposed providing additional services toethnic minority groups, integrating this idea into socio-economic plansand mobilising more resources for poverty elimination.
Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank's Country Director for Vietnam, saiddevelopment partners recognise Vietnam’s achievements in alleviatingpoverty.
Vietnam should, however, enactappropriate measures to improve the quality of its workforce as animportant factor of economic development in the context ofglobalisation.
The country, she said, needs tocomplete legal frameworks and encourage private enterprises to invest inwater supply, drainage and waste water treatment projects to increasethe effectiveness of social capital and reduce the burden on the statebudget.
Institutional reform is a prerequisiteto restructuring the economy. Although in recent years, the VietnameseGovernment has adjusted policies to befit a market economy, the effortsare only beginning steps.
She hoped that in 2015-2016, institutional reforms would continue and facilitate economic restructuring.
The VDPF was firstly held in 2013, replacing the Consultative GroupMeeting of Donors. It reflects a shift in Vietnam’s status from arecipient of official development assistance (ODA) to a developmentpartner of other countries and international organisations.
The VDPF 2014 focused on reforming economic institutions andstrengthening self-reliance and competitiveness of the Vietnameseeconomy.-VNA
Addressing the event, Deputy Minister of Investment and Planning(MPI) Nguyen The Phuong said the MPI has been working with relevantagencies and localities to implement commitments made at the VDPF, with afocus on poverty alleviation, especially among ethnic minority groups.
This includes drawing up, reviewing, revisingand issuing new regulations and legal documents; reviewing existingprogrammes and policies; building new programmes; reducing the dispersalof policies; increasing coordination; integrating development goals;and increasing connections among policies.
Through cooperation between Vietnam and development partners representedby the World Bank, Vietnam has concentrated on important areas such aspoverty alleviation, increasing disadvantaged groups’ access to servicesand the participation of the private sector in providing publicservices, protecting the environment and increasing the competitivenessof the workforce through vocational training and skill development.
According to the MPI’s report, poverty reduction efforts have helpedimprove living standards among ethnic minority groups.
The rate of impoverished households nationwide has fallen from 58percent in 1993 to 5.97 percent in 2014 and the rate among ethnicminority households continues to fall by an average of three to fourpercent yearly.
In addition, 84.5 percent ofrural population have access to safe water and 62 percent of householdsnationwide have toilets meeting hygienic standards.
The country has 1,456 vocational training centres, up 100 centresfrom 2014, and training curriculum has shifted to meet market demandsand the requirements of economic development.
Atthe conference, experts proposed providing additional services toethnic minority groups, integrating this idea into socio-economic plansand mobilising more resources for poverty elimination.
Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank's Country Director for Vietnam, saiddevelopment partners recognise Vietnam’s achievements in alleviatingpoverty.
Vietnam should, however, enactappropriate measures to improve the quality of its workforce as animportant factor of economic development in the context ofglobalisation.
The country, she said, needs tocomplete legal frameworks and encourage private enterprises to invest inwater supply, drainage and waste water treatment projects to increasethe effectiveness of social capital and reduce the burden on the statebudget.
Institutional reform is a prerequisiteto restructuring the economy. Although in recent years, the VietnameseGovernment has adjusted policies to befit a market economy, the effortsare only beginning steps.
She hoped that in 2015-2016, institutional reforms would continue and facilitate economic restructuring.
The VDPF was firstly held in 2013, replacing the Consultative GroupMeeting of Donors. It reflects a shift in Vietnam’s status from arecipient of official development assistance (ODA) to a developmentpartner of other countries and international organisations.
The VDPF 2014 focused on reforming economic institutions andstrengthening self-reliance and competitiveness of the Vietnameseeconomy.-VNA
