Vietnam holds conference on management of Oda projects HANOI - A two-day conference on the management of projects using official development assistance (ODA) kicked off in Hai Phong on April 12. The conference, organized jointly by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), aims to evaluate the implementation of ODA-funded projects, highlight outstanding issues and difficulties in the course of carrying out those projects, and map out measures to tackle defined obstacles. Nearly 200 participants from ministries, localities, project management units across the country, and representatives of donor countries and international organizations focused their discussions on regulations for investment and construction management, bidding, financial sources management, resettlement, contract management, and project quality management. The conference also discussed ways to strengthen personnel organization, management and training for ODA-funded projects and define a future plan of action to be submitted to the Government and donors. The participants shared the view that progress has been made in managing projects using ODA capital. Project beneficiaries in Viet Nam have exerted great efforts in making proposals, showing their financial requirements, and preparing necessary documents for projects. They also agreed that improvements were also seen in project appraisal and approval. Local authorised agencies have further created a synchronous legal basis for their work with more international treaties on this domain. Weaknesses such as the poor qualifications of officials, cumbersome management between different administrative levels, unclear assignment of functions and tasks, and loss supervision and evaluation of ODA-funded projects were also made clear at the conference. Since Viet Nam resumed its relations with the international donor community in 1993 and through seven consultative group meetings for Viet Nam, international donors have pledged a total ODA sum of US$ 15.14 billion to the country with increasing amounts, year-on-year. The total capital of ODA-funded projects amounted to over US$ 10 billion, or nearly 70 percent of the committed sum. Disbursement pace of projects using ODA sources has been accelerated. The total disbursed capital in the 1993-1999 period was recorded at US$ 6.3 billion, over 40 percent of the total ODA volume pledged. The average annual disbursed volume in the 1996-2000 period was US$ 1.1 billion, accounting for over 70 percent of the target set for the period. The highest pace of disbursement was recorded in technical assistance projects. Meanwhile, a low record of disbursement was seen in infrastructure development projects, particularly those in the fields of electricity, communications, construction and irrigation. There have been 45 bilateral and multi-lateral donors officially operating in Viet Nam. Japan, WB, and ADB are biggest donors to Viet Nam with their combined ODA capital disbursed in the 1993-1998 period making up 45 percent of the total. Eight other big donors to the country are United Nations organizations, France, Spain, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Denmark, and the European Commission. Vietnam News Agency - April 13, 2000.