PM urges WB to foster cooperation within GMS, CLV

Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc hopes the World Bank will play a better part in promoting cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) and Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam (CLV) Development Triangle regions.

The Prime Minister made the remarks at a meeting with Joaquim Levy, WB Managing Director and Group Chief Financial Officer, on March 31, the final day of the sixth GMS Summit (GMS-6) and the 10th CLV Summit (CLV-10).

He said he is pleased with the strong development and effective cooperation between Vietnam and the WB and mentioned the WB as one of Vietnam’s most important partners. He highly appreciated the WB’s support for Vietnam’s socio-economic development in recent years, particularly in poverty reduction.

Levy, for his part, thanked the Government of Vietnam for inviting the WB to the summits, while highlighting the events’ agendas.

He spoke highly of the effective and practical partnership between Vietnam and other GMS nations. It sets a great example for other countries in the world.

He affirmed the WB attaches importance to cooperation with Vietnam, and appreciates Vietnam’s strong development in recent times, especially in economic growth in connection with inclusive and equal development.

The WB is willing to support and cooperate with Vietnam, especially in providing capital and technical assistance in the fields of finance, banking, climate change adaptation, and grassroots health care, he stressed.

While highly valuing the role played by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc in promoting the private economic sector and infrastructure development, Levy said these are important domains that the WB wants to support nations, thus attracting investment in infrastructure.

The WB has guarantee instruments, which can support Vietnam in attracting private investment, he noted.

Both the WB and the Asian Development Bank have projects to support Vietnam, he said, hoping for stronger cooperation among the sides to optimise the support.

Regarding projects to cope with climate change, Levy affirmed this is an important field and the bank will spend 28 percent of its loans on the work, including for Vietnam.

Agreeing with Levy’s viewpoints and proposals, PM Phuc underlined that Vietnam has high resolve in climate change response. The country organised a major conference last year to seek solutions to this problem, and it hopes to receive the WB’s assistance in capital, advice and policies in this issue.

He affirmed that Vietnam pledges to effectively use the funded capital, including in the projects financed with the concessional capital of the International Development Association (IDA) in 2017.

As Vietnam still faces a number of difficulties and challenges, he asked the WB to extend the rapid debt settlement schedule for these aid, which is to ease the burden on budget, ensure safe fiscal indices, and facilitate Vietnam’s “graduation” from the IDA.

Aside from climate change response, the PM also asked the WB to provide capital and technical support for Vietnam in other important fields, namely infrastructure, renewable energy, grassroots health care, and education, especially tertiary education. He added Vietnam also hopes to receive assistance in economic restructuring.

Echoing the WB Managing Director’s view, PM Phuc said Vietnam considers businesses the core force in promoting economic growth, and among them, private firms play an important role.

Regarding the programmes and projects the WB plans to finance in 2018, he said relevant ministries and sectors are speeding up the verification so that these projects can receive funding on schedule.-VNA