The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Vietnam has reached consensus on a new country partnership strategy (CPS), which focuses on boosting harmonious development, economic efficiency and sustainable environment.

The new CPS gives priorities to six key sectors, including agriculture and natural resources, education, energy, finance, transport and water supply and other urban infrastructure and services.

The CPS will continue to assist the institutional and policy renovation, including the restructuring of state-owned enterprises. It will strengthen the harmonious development through focusing on difficult areas and raising the government’s capacity of responding to challenges in environment and climate change.

ADB’s support to the country’s infrastructure, rural development and education is expected to improve the poor’s access to business chances and services.

ADB Vice Persident, Stephen P. Groff, who is in charge of ADB’s operations in East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said that Vietnam has gained rapid growth and impressive result in poverty reduction during the past two decades.

However, imbalance between regions still remains, with higher level of poverty seen in ethnic minority groups. Particularly, the poor is vulnerable to environmental degrading and climate change, thus, the building of infrastructure system and improvement of capacity to coping with natural disasters in coastal and lower areas will help ensure the safety of human and natural resources, as well as protect the poor, he said.

ADB’s commitment in public sector management will support the reforms in policy, thus increasing the economic effectiveness and improving social services for the poor and limiting their risks of falling into poverty again.-VNA