Southeast Asia

The year was a period of transition with the approval of the new Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan 2006–2010. Viet Nam was accepted as the 150th member of the World Trade Organization. ADB prepared its first results-based country strategy and program for 2007–2010 for Viet Nam in full alignment with the development plan. To help achieve the development plan’s targets, the country strategy and program focuses its operations on pro-poor, business-led economic growth; social equity and balanced development; and proper environmental protection and management.

The country strategy and program emphasizes promotion of good governance and anticorruption efforts in all operations, with appropriate multifaceted support for regional cooperation. The country strategy and program also focuses more on creating an enabling environment for pro-poor private sector operations and on improving links between private and public sector operations.

ADB approved $308.2 million in loans and $32.5 million in grants, including a GMS loan of $60.0 million for improving railways linking Ha Noi with Lao Cai at the border with the People’s Republic of China, and a grant of $20.0 million for HIV/AIDS prevention. ADB also approved a loan of $51.0 million for Emergency Rehabilitation of Calamity Damages for Viet Nam. ADB approved 15 technical assistance projects (including 2 supplementary) for $16.5 million. The HIV/AIDS Prevention among Youth Project aims to stop the spread of the disease in 15 provinces through an integrated plan involving mass media and community campaigns. It will be complemented by a comprehensive program of activities and services to bring about widespread behavior changes among young people.

ADB continued to support the Government by creating a favorable private sector environment through a program loan of $20.0 million supporting small and medium-sized enterprise development and a loan of $30.0 million supporting the development of agriculture science and technology. ADB supported social inclusiveness through an ADF loan of $34.0 million to upper secondary and professional teacher development, a loan of $45.0 million for Forests for Livelihood Improvement in the Central Highlands, and a loan of $53.2 million for Central Region Small and Medium Towns Development. The technical assistance program to help develop a lending program and build capacity is highlighted by a high degree of cofinancing: every dollar under ADB technical assistance financing is matched by another dollar from cofinanciers.

ADB actively participated in initiatives of the five-bank group of ADB, African Development Bank, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), Japan Bank for International Cooperation, and the World Bank. The group helped implement the Hanoi Core Statement by actively participating in the thematic groups, particularly those dealing with procurement and environmental and social safeguards. The banks also helped revise regulations to ensure efficiency in investments financed by official development assistance, and contributed considerably to drafting the procurement law and its implementation guidelines, and to improving project management unit structures, their transparency, and accountability to support the Government’s anticorruption efforts.

Under the technical assistance’s results-based monitoring of poverty and growth, ADB has worked closely with the Government and other donors to help develop the monitoring and evaluation framework for the new Five-Year Socio-Economic Development Plan (2006–2010).

ADB prepared its first results-based country strategy and program for 2007–2010 for Viet Nam in full alignment with the development plan

Strengthening Good Governance in Viet Nam

The program includes
computerization of state
administration

Good governance is one of the strategic thrusts of ADB operations in Viet Nam. It is also a priority for the Government. The 10th Party Congress in April 2006 stressed the urgent need to strengthen governance to ensure that public resources are used more effectively and efficiently, and minimize their misuse; and to control corruption. The conference emphasized that government officials must be more accountable.

Although new laws have considerably strengthened regulatory and institutional frameworks to deal with corruption, in July 2006 Viet Nam was ranked 102 out of 144 in Transparency International’s corruption perception index. Clearly, much remains to be done and ADB is helping Viet Nam in its anticorruption efforts.

Recognizing the importance of continued administrative reform to achieve economic growth and reduce poverty, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung indicated at the last Cabinet meeting of 2006 (26–27 December) that strengthening administrative reforms, sustaining economic growth, and continuing the fight against corruption will be the Government’s key tasks for 2007.

ADB has helped the Government draft key legislation and implementing regulations, including an anticorruption law that the National Assembly passed in 2006. With ADB support, a civil service bill is now being drafted to go before the National Assembly in 2007.

ADB’s current assistance builds on the support it has lent Viet Nam in this sector since January 2003, when ADB approved a program loan supporting the implementation of the Government’s Public Administration Reform Master Program (2001–2010). The program aims to build a professional, effective, and efficient public administration system.

Viet Nam also endorsed the regional Anti-Corruption Action Plan that ADB and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development initiated.

The program comprises institutional reform, organizational reform, civil service reform, salary reform, improvement of the quality of civil servants by training and retraining, public financial management, and modernization of public administration, including computerization of state administration.

ADB has supported the program mainly by training and retraining public officials, by helping develop more effective training modules to meet skill needs, and by supporting e-government initiatives.