National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan (R) receives WB Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Victoria Kwakwa in Hanoi on June 26 (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – National Assembly (NA)Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan received Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank (WB)’sVice President for East Asia and Pacific, in Hanoi on June 26.
The host highly valued the WB’s role andactivities in Vietnam, stressing that it is an important development partnerand policy advisor of the Vietnamese Government, greatly helping with localsocio-economic development.
The programmes and projects funded by the WBhave matched Vietnam’s development orientations in the new period, Ngan said,noting that they focus on promoting macro-economic stability, sustainabledevelopment and competitiveness of the country.
Kwakwa, who is in Vietnam to attend the 6thGlobal Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly, said the country’s hosting of theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) events in 2017 and the GEF-6 in DaNang city demonstrates its increasing role in the world.
Congratulating Vietnam on the recent economicachievements, including the good macro-economic balance and the declining ratioof public debt to GDP, she said the Vietnamese NA has made importantcontributions to these outcomes.
As the environmental issue affects eachcountry’s development, the WB wants to assist Vietnam in dealing withenvironmental challenges such as hazardous waste, plastic waste andenvironmental protection in businesses.
Applauding the NA’s role in keeping public debtwithin a safe level, Kwakwa emphasised that to support Vietnam in this issue,the WB is tightening the management of its cooperation projects with Vietnam toensure that resources in these projects are used effectively. It is alsoreviewing the list of cooperation projects and considering reducing andcancelling unnecessary parts.
She asked the Vietnamese parliament to considerraising the capital disbursement ceiling in the medium-term public investmentplan so that projects funded by concessional loans of the WB’s InternationalDevelopment Association (IDA) will be carried out on schedule.
Chairwoman Ngan said the NA has always paidattention to fine-tuning policies and laws on environmental protection andimplementing relevant international commitments.
She added that the Vietnamese parliament hasapproved the revised Law on Public Debt Management with many regulations ondebt and re-lending amended.
Vietnam prioritises disbursing capital forprogrammes and projects financed by foreign preferential loans. Therefore, itwill consider lifting the disbursement ceiling so as to help disburse the WB’sconcessional loans, she noted.
The top legislator asked the WB to continuehelping Vietnam to perfect policies and legal framework to boost macro-economicstability, promote growth, especially in the private economic sector, develophuman resources, and ensure social harmony and sustainable natural resourcesand environment.
Regarding the country’s IDA graduation, whichmeans it will no longer be eligible for the IDA’s concessional loans, Ngancalled on the WB Vice President to give further transitional support for thecountry, thus helping Vietnam sustainably maintain development and povertyreduction accomplishments.
Kwakwa said the WB will help Vietnam seektechnical support and non-refundable aid while providing it with policy advice,especially experience in avoiding the middle-income trap.
If Vietnam is well prepared for the FourthIndustrial Revolution, it can steer clear of the middle-income trap, sheadded.-VNA
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