Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has affirmed that Vietnam wishes to develop the relationship with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in a range of areas in the future.

Speaking at a reception for ADB Vice President Stephen P Groff in Hanoi on Feb. 9, PM Dung said the country highly values the effective cooperation and assistance of the ADB on poverty reduction, human resources development, infrastructure and policymaking.

He said the ADB projects in Vietnam totalled more than 10.8 billion USD and have shown positive results and contributed to the nation’s socio-economic development.

Dung expressed desire for the ADB to enhance investment in the fields of infrastructure construction, health care, education, and assist Vietnam with the environment, especially the impact of climate change, financial reform and State-owned enterprises.

For his part, Groff praised the achievements of Vietnam , particularly in curbing inflation, stabilising the macro-economy and assuring social security.

He said the ADB attaches importance to cooperation with Vietnam and affirmed to work closely with relevant agencies and sectors to implement agreements and cooperative programmes.

On Feb. 9, Finance Minister Vuong Dinh Hue also welcomed ADB Vice President Groff to the country.

Hue appreciated the ADB’s credit assistance of 130 million USD for restructuring State-owned enterprises in Vietnam , which is important for the Vietnamese economy, and the Vietnamese economy. He said the Song Da Corporation has been selected as a pilot enterprise to implement the restructuring endeavour.

Groff said Vietnam had managed the ADB projects effectively last year, compared to previous years and that the effectiveness of these projects would accelerate the disbursement of ADB’s capital for Vietnam./.