Vietnam always treasures contributions made by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to its development and wants to expand the scale of cooperation with the financial institution.

This statement was made by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung while receiving ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda in Hanoi on Feb. 28.

PM Dung expressed his pleasure to meet the ADB President again and highlighted the effective cooperation of ADB operations in Vietnam .

The PM affirmed that Vietnam manages and effectively uses ADB loans to the country.

The Vietnamese Government welcomed the financial institution’s annual meeting that will take place in Hanoi in May, PM Dung said, stressing the event’s significance for both ADB and Vietnam.

Relevant Vietnamese agencies will spare no effort to ensure the success of this important event, he assured.

Vietnam has exerted efforts to improve infrastructure, step up human resource training, focus on sustainable development along with building an equal society and speed up poverty reduction and environmental protection.

He expressed his wish to continue receiving ADB support to solve these issues.

ADB President Kuroda highlighted the development in relations between his financial institution and Vietnam, saying that ADB plans to increase loans to Vietnam to 2 billion USD in the future.

Apart from assistance and cooperation in infrastructure development, ADB wants to cooperate in education with Vietnam, he said.

The ADB President highly valued the Vietnamese Government’s measures to curb inflation, saying they are effective and appropriate with the current situation.

In addition to inflation, the gap between the rich and poor is a challenge for the Southeast Asian nation, he said.

Solving the issue along with rapid economic growth and climate change response has challenged Vietnam, he added.

Apart from infrastructure improvement, Vietnam needs to have abundant high-quality human resources in the long term.

To meet the targets, the country’s per capita income will obtain a higher level, he affirmed.

The ADB President also expressed pleasure with Vietnam hosting the upcoming ADB meeting, saying that this is an opportunity to showcase its potential for development.

Through the meeting, ADB’s 66 member countries can witness Vietnam’s strong development and take opportunity to promote cooperation with Vietnam, he added.

ADB will continue to support and assist Vietnam in its economic development, he stressed./.