Britain agrees to provide Vietnam US$450 million to fight poverty
HANOI, Vietnam Britain signed an agreement Tuesday to provide Vietnam with 250 million pounds (US$450 million; €355 million) in grants over the next five years to help the communist country fight poverty.
Britain's visiting International Development Secretary Hilary Benn and Vietnam's Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc signed the deal, part of a 10-year development partnership arrangement between the two countries.
"It recognizes the quite extraordinary progress which Vietnam has made in recent years in reducing poverty, lifting 30 million people out of poverty in a generation," Benn told reporters after the signing ceremony.
"It is a success story which has been hidden from the rest of the world," he said.
Benn, however, said the aid does not come without conditions. He said it was dependent on poverty reduction efforts, human rights, the fight against corruption, good governance, and financial management reform.
The Department for International Development has provided a total of 190 million pounds (US$350 million; €276 million) to Vietnam since 1992.
The Associated Press - September 19, 2006.
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