Vietnam has successfully fulfilled most of its United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) with a significant reduction in poverty and newborn mortality rates and better healthcare services available.

UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark made the evaluation in an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency to mark her trip to Vietnam, where she is attending the annual meeting of UNDP chief representatives in Asia-Pacific and the UNDP’s management conference in the region.

She also said Vietnamese women have increasingly important positions in decision making and that Vietnam has advanced from a poor nation to its current middle income status.

The UNDP has had a presence in Vietnam for about 35 years, during which the body has witnessed remarkable growth in the country, she said.

Clark suggested Vietnam seek growth and development models that ensure that development achievements are distributed equally and living standards are raised.

The Vietnamese Government will consult the UNDP at a donors’ meeting scheduled for early next year in an effort to elevate the country to a higher development level, she said, reasoning that the middle-income status has the potential to be a trap sending Vietnam backward.

The UNDP leader said during the Hanoi meetings, the UNDP and the Vietnamese Government will table all ideals on future development and consider solutions to help Vietnam further develop.-VNA