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ADB to Assist in Strengthening Agriculture Science and Technology Management in Viet Nam

HANOI, VIET NAM (5 December 2005) – The Government of Viet Nam and the Asian Development Bank ( ADB) today signed an agreement for a technical assistance (TA) grant of US$700,000 to help boost management of the agricultural research and extension systems in Viet Nam.

Signing on behalf of ADB was Bradford Philips, Country Director at ADB’s Viet Nam Resident Mission. Phung Khac Ke, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam, signed on behalf of the Government.

The grant, from the Japan Special Fund, financed by the Government of Japan, will help improve the country’s Agriculture Science and Technology (AST) system. The TA is also supporting the Government’s efforts for improved AST investment.

The TA is expected to produce a clear national priority framework for AST development and lead to improved management and new charters of the national science and technology council in the agriculture sector and provincial extension advisory councils. It will also improve operational guidelines for agricultural research, extension, and training programs, and their appropriate reporting and monitoring and evaluation systems. Another output will be circulars and regulations for carrying out the Government’s plan for the reorganization of agricultural research institutes.

Since December 2002, ADB has been undertaking an Agriculture Sector Development Program to help increase agricultural productivity, profitability and competitiveness. The program emphasizes growth of small-scale farming and enterprises in line with Viet Nam’s long-term plan and strategy for the market-oriented agriculture sector.

Under this program, the Government has launched reforms and reorganization of agricultural research and extension to prepare for globalization of the country’s agriculture sector through accession to the World Trade Organization and implementation of the ASEAN Free Trade Area. ADB has in its pipeline a project loan of $30 million for an AST Project to upgrade and modernize the human and physical resources involved in AST.

“The TA will help strengthen AST development in Viet Nam and facilitate the advancement and modernization of the country’s agriculture sector,” said Bradford Philips, ADB’s Country Director for Viet Nam. “It will achieve this in combination with the policy and institutional sector reforms under the ongoing Agriculture Sector Development Program, and the proposed loan for the AST Project.”

The Executing Agency for the TA will be the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The TA will be undertaken over about 18 months.

ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through pro-poor sustainable economic growth, social development, and good governance. Established in 1966, it is owned by 64 members – 46 from the region. In 2004, it approved loans and technical assistance totaling $5.3 billion and $196.6 million, respectively.

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