How to improve Vietnam’s affordability and investment efficiency for infrastructure development was raised up at the March 11 ceremony to make public the Assessment of Financing Framework for Municipal Infrastructure Report.

The report was jointly made by the World Bank (WB) and the Ministry of Finance with financial support of the Australian Agency for International Development.

It reviewed the current infrastructure financing framework from both legal and institutional perspectives, evaluated relevant international experience and proposed measures to improve the financing for infrastructure development.

The report also introduced several avenues for the Government to consider in order improve efficiency of financing for infrastructure development through the involvement of the private sector and market-based mechanisms.

Vietnam’s transition to a market economy has been accompanied by rapid urbanisation and annual economic growth that averaged 7.3 percent between 1990 and 2010. This outstanding achievement has resulted in a fivefold increase in per capita income.

Vietnam has also pursued a path of fiscal decentralisation through greater autonomy for local governments over public finances and infrastructure development./.