During the meeting, the Government of Vietnam and the development partners discussed in depth the economic situation, the government’s recent policy response, poverty reduction and health programmes, the harmonisation and aid effectiveness agenda, the fight against corruption and institutional reform, and climate change issues.

Attending the first morning of the meeting, Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung reviewed developments of the past year, and informed donors of the Government’s main measures to tackle the global financial crisis, stressing that the government will resolutely implement solutions set to ensure stability and economic activity.

The Prime Minister emphasized the need for strong co-operation between donors and the government to overcome the crisis. “The financial crisis and global economic downturn are affecting economies all over the world. The tasks for Vietnam in 2009 will be very challenging. The Government and people of Vietnam appreciate the support from the international community as it addresses macroeconomic stability while sustaining its reform agenda.” 

Socio-economic situation and Vietnam’s response

Development partners recognized Vietnam’s impressive recent success at reducing high domestic inflation and containing credit expansion, as well as in addressing the global food and fuel crisis earlier this year. They expressed support for the recent proposals to stimulate growth in response to the international credit crisis, but urged the government to respond flexibly as circumstances change. They also emphasized the need to continue economic reforms, particularly to address the weaknesses exposed by the macro-economic turbulence of early 2008. They also noted that amidst these crises, special attention should be paid to the poor and vulnerable people to make sure they are not left behind.

“Despite the economic challenges of this year and a difficult year ahead, the medium term outlook for Vietnam remains favourable, provided that the government sustains the momentum of economic reforms that have brought so much success this decade.”, stated Shogo Ishii, Assistant Director, Asia Pacific Department of the International Monetary Fund. 

Ayumi Konishi, the Country Director of the Asian Development Bank in Vietnam congratulated the Vietnamese government for effectively managed macro economic difficulties this year..

Delivering the statement on behalf of the European Union, Hervé Bolot, Ambassador of France acknowledged the challenges for Vietnam, and emphasized EU’s continuing support saying “the European Union remains firmly committed to its partnership with Vietnam as a long term partner and friend, through times of turbulence as well as those of prosperity”

“While it is important to safeguard Vietnam’s economic progress, from a UN perspective, it is also vital that priority continues to be given to addressing the negative impact the current situation is having on the poor.” remarked Mr. John Hendra, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam. “This will be critical to ensuring that those Vietnamese families that have left poverty do not fall back into it.” 

Meanwhile, the Head of the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) in Vietnam, Ms Fiona Lappin, reminded participants of continuing the fight against entrenched poverty in the ethnic minority groups, new urban poor and landless farmers.

Speaking on behalf of the Group of four Ambassadors of Canada, Norway, Switzerland and New Zealand, the Ambassador of New Zealand, Mr. James Kember noted that “while there are signs of commendable progress in government-mandated programs to improve education, health care, infrastructure, and the position of ethnic minorities, considerable challenges remain to ensure ethnic communities benefit fully from growth

The challenges and opportunities in health finance reform were also discussed by participants, who noted that spending in health represents a good investment, and called on rapid expansion of health insurance in the country.

Harmonisation and aid effectiveness

Partners applauded the rapid adoption of the Accra Agenda of Action by the Vietnamese authorities. During the meeting, the findings of a recent monitoring review of the implementation of the Hanoi Core Statement were shared with participants. The review noted that there was still a need to ensure broader ownership by line ministries and provincial governments of the aid effectiveness agenda. The report also encouraged donors to make greater use of Vietnam’s own country systems, and called on the Government to ensure a greater role for civil society in ensuring the monitoring of aid efforts.

“Vietnam continues to be a shining light internationally because of its commitment to using aid well,” said Australian Ambassador to Vietnam, Allaster Cox. “The question is how Vietnam can make real changes in aid delivery practices at the sectoral and sub-national levels. There are some promising developments, but more has to be done to address the challenges, such as capacity constraints at local levels, improving the consistency in the country systems across ministries, and enabling the civil society to maximize its potential to contribute to Vietnam’s development.”

Governance and administration reform

The Government and donors reviewed the progress made in the fight against corruption and in public administration reform. They agreed a continued dialogue is needed in relation to the role of the media in fighting corruption. Recognizing that overcoming corruption will take time, donors supported concrete steps in the shorter term by the cabinet of Vietnam, and applauded the recent decision to ratify the United Nations convention on corruption.

Speaking on behalf of the development partners, Swedish Ambassador, Mr. Rolf Bergman stated that “The Government of Vietnam and development partners agreed that the fight against corruption should be based on zero-tolerance. Further actions must now be taken to reach this goal.” He also reiterated the crucial role of the mass media if this fight is to be brought to successful end. “The mass media should be encouraged by the Government to play this role.”

Mitsuo Sakaba, Ambassador of Japan stressed that “It is encouraging to see the leaders of the Vietnamese government repeatedly express their strong determination to combat corruption, and Japan would like to urge the Vietnamese government to make continuous efforts to prevent the recurrence of corruption.”

In his closing remarks, the Vice President of the World Bank in East Asia and Pacific, James Adams, co chair of the meeting, congratulated the Government of Vietnam for overcoming the various economic challenges of 2008. “2009 will bring about new and more difficult challenges. But the meeting clearly concluded that Government will be sustaining its efforts at economic and social reforms and that as a result, Vietnam can count on the donor community for continued support.”

Minister of Planning and Investment, Vo Hong Phuc, in his final speech, thanked the participants for the frank and constructive dialogue. “The Government of Vietnam has mapped out various solutions to address the current economic crisis, to stabilize the economy and maintain its growth potential, as well as helping the poor people to overcome the difficulties brought about by the new economic challenges. The Government is also committed to step up the fight against corruption, in order to ensure that Government and donor have a maximum impact on development efforts. ”

“The adoption of the Accra Agenda of Action”, the Minister remarked “shows that the Government of Vietnam wants to play a stronger role in the harmonization agenda and improving aid effectiveness. At the same time, we have approved the national target program on climate change, and are encouraged by the donor community’s commitment to assist Vietnam’s efforts to tackle the challenges by climate change.”