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US$ 650,000 Grant to Improve Livelihood of Poor People in Viet Nam's Central Coastal Provinces

HANOI, VIET NAM (12 April 2004) - The signing ceremony for an ADB technical assistance (TA) grant of US$650,000 was held today at the State Bank of Vietnam. The grant will prepare a project to improve the livelihood of poor people and the management of coastal resources in central coastal provinces in Viet Nam.

The grant is from ADB's Japan Special Fund, financed by the Japanese Government. The Viet Nam government is meeting local currency costs equivalent to US$165,000.

Viet Nam was represented at the signing ceremony by Mr. Phung Khac Ke, Deputy Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam and Mr. Nguyen Bich Dat, Vice Minister of Planning and Investment. Mr. Bradford Philips, Country Director for Viet Nam, represented ADB. Representatives from the Embassy of Japan were also present.

Viet Nam's 3,600-kilometer coastline makes it a major marine state in Southeast Asia. The coastal area is a prime source of economic growth for Viet Nam and has developed quickly through fishing, oil and gas exploration, marine transport and tourism. However, substantial pockets of poverty remain in many coastal areas.

Poverty rates are in excess of 40% in many of the 125 coastal communes, including the four coastal provinces under the TA. Over half of livelihood needs of an average household in these communes are met from coastal fishing. But over-exploitation has resulted in a sharp decline in the marine resources. Most fishers report catching less than half of what they used to about 10 year ago. This practice is exacerbating livelihood and environmental impoverishment in these provinces.

The TA will assess the natural and coastal resources, identify threats to livelihoods and biodiversity in coastal zones from disasters and human interventions, devise ways to make the existing livelihood systems more productive and identify productive alternative livelihood opportunities.

It will also assess the social services and infrastructure needs in the sample communes, prioritize project options in selected coastal communities depending on their individual needs, and prepare a development strategy for the proposed Livelihood Improvement in Central Coastal Provinces Project. The TA outputs will comprise: (i) formulation of provincial Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) strategies, (ii) development of ICZM investment plans and feasibility studies, and (iii) preparation of training programs to strengthen project implementation capacity.

The TA will be implemented with the active participation of all those concerned at central, provincial, district, community, and community levels. Nongovernment organizations (NGOs) will play a pivotal role in the community consultative process. NGOS will also be contracted to carry out part of the capacity-building and awareness-raising plan.

ADB 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 63 members - 45 from the region. In 2003, it approved loans and technical assistance worth US$6.1 billion and US$177 million, respectively, of which $179 million in loans and $8.6 million in technical assistance were for Viet Nam.

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