The World Bank (WB)’s Country Director for Vietnam Ajay Chhibber has praised Vietnam’s efforts in reducing poverty in the country over the past year.

In his article which run in February edition of the 'Banker' magazine , Ajay wrote that the declining poverty rate in Vietnam is due to the country’s policy of inclusive development.

Over the past 15 years, Vietnam has achieved one of the world’s fastest declines in poverty. The country’s poverty rate – measured as the percentage of people who live below US $1 a day – has declined from about 58 percent in 1993 to 16 percent in 2006, and 34 million people have come out of poverty.

“Steady and rapid growth in income, of about 7 percent to 8 percent a year, have been a key factor in this reduction,” Ajay said.

The WB official stressed that what marks Vietnam out from other-fast growing economies is the combination of spectacular growth with limited increase in inequality. The Gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, has increased from 0.34 in 1993 to 0.36 in 2006, lower than in other emerging economies, which helps explain the dramatic poverty reduction.

However, according to Ajay, in order to sustain the inclusive development pattern so far as the country races toward an average income of US $1,000 and middle-income status by 2009, Vietnam must help its citizens access higher education, ensure that rural productivity is lifted as it industrialises further, and that its ethnic minorities are provided opportunities to develop so they are not left behind.

He added that Vietnam must also build modern social safety nets for those who could be left behind and ensure that its growth does not come at the cost of its environment.

“But as it meets these challenges, Vietnam has left behind a record of inclusive development which others can learn from,” Ajay concluded in his article.