Donors urge Vietnam to stick rigidly to reform timetable
HANOI - International donors gave their backing Wednesday to communist Vietnam's phased programme of market
reforms but warned that it was vital for their credibility that the government stick rigidly to its timetable.
"One of the reasons we have a positive assessment is that they have very detailed plans," World Bank
representative Andrew Steer told reporters after a two-day meeting of 36 donor countries and agencies.
"What matters now is that these plans are actually implemented."
Steer said that after three years of urging faster movement from the communist authorities, donors now
endorsed their gradual approach to liberalising trade and reforming public administration, banks and
state-owned enterprises.
"We endorse that gradual reform but it is even more important if you choose to reform gradually that you
actually do it.
"You really have to do it month by month .. otherwise you can lose credibility and you can lose the investment
inflows."
Steer said the need for disciplined implementation was made even greater by the global economic slowdown
which was already eating into Vietnam's export growth.
But he said he saw no reason why Vietnam could not recover from that and still meet its ambitious target of
doubling its Gross Domestic Product over the next decade.
"Our assessment is that this slowdown in the global economy is temporary. I think this year it will affect
Vietnam's growth ... but there is no reason why they should not be able to reach (their growth target) in a few
years," he said.
Steer said donors had all agreed that the scale of change in Vietnam since the financial crisis of 1997 had been
remarkable.
"Not only is the economic policy of the government better than it was four years ago but the level of dialogue is
also deeper and more genuine," he said.
US ambassador Pete Peterson told the meeting that the reforms which the communist authorities were now
envisaging would have been inconceivable in
"World Trade Organization accession is now a realistic possibility -- four years ago the concept was barely
understood," he said.
Donors agreed that their next meeting would be held in Tokyo from November 15 to 16, as requested by both
the Vietnamese and Japanese governments.
Steer said the venue would give Vietnamese officials an opportunity to discuss their investment plans with their
Japanese counterparts at a time when there is mounting fiscal pressure on Tokyo's huge aid budget.
Japan remains Vietnam's number one donor, ahead of both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
Vietnam received more than 1.5 billion dollars in disbursed aid last year. The figure is expected to fall to
between 1.2 and 1.3 billion dollars in 2001.
Agence France Presse - June 20, 2001.
|