Donors meeting pledges $2.4 bln for Vietnam in 1998
A World Bank donors' meeting for Vietnam on Friday
pledged a total of $2.4 billion in aid for the country for calendar 1998, a
World Bank statement said.
The bank said the pledges were based on three considerations: that the
implementation of reforms next year -- in trade, in state enterprises and in
the financial sector -- justified high levels of both programme and project
assistance; that Vietnam remained a low-income country with huge needs for
investment in human and rural development; and that high levels of support
were necessary to finance investment and growth.
Andrew Steer, director of the World Bank's Vietnam department, said the
total, which matched that of last year, was a remarkable amount given the
Asian crisis, when some donor governments were having fiscal difficulties.
Donors stressed the need for immediate action on reforms but showed their
support for the Vietnamese government's six-point agenda for action, he
said.
He said donors were keen to demonstrate their support because of the
regional crisis.
``It is clear that Vietnam is facing greater external difficulties than
before so donors were particularly keen to demonstrate their support,'' he
said.
Asked if Vietnam would be needing additional aid in the next six months or
so, Steer said donors did not see this as necessary as they did not believe
Vietnam would fall victim to the regional crisis.
``We do not see at all Vietnam as part of the crisis in the region. We have
every expectation that Vietnam will perform well in the coming year,'' he
said.
Asked if the World Bank shared the Vietnamese government's view that Vietnam
would be able to achieve nine percent growth in 1998, he said donors
believed it was possible, although it would be more difficult to achieve.
``We believe that economic growth will be very robust but that it will be
more difficult,'' he said.
He added that there were many measures Vietnam could take to attract more
foreign direct investment and there was a great deal of room for expansion
in export growth.
The World Bank said in its statement that donors had emphasised the need for
urgent action on banking reform, state enterprise reform, and improving the
competitiveness of the Vietnamese economy.
``Without immediate action in these areas, donors warned that Vietnam's
development momentum would be lost,'' the statement said. ``They also
stressed that since the reforms were interrelated, a gradual and piecemeal
approach was no longer viable, especially given the external crisis.''
Asked if Japan's pledge was greater or lower than the previous year's, Steer
said it was roughly a four percent increase from last year.
Dec 12 1997 - Reuters
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