The World Bank (WB) provided a total aid of $10.4 billion for 93 programs and projects in Vietnam by late February this year, and $6.7 billion of which was disbursed, the Vietnamese government said on its website July 21. The funds have been mostly poured into the areas of agriculture, banking, finance, health and education, infrastructure and transport, making great contributions to the country’s socio-economic development. WB pledged $2.498 billion in official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam this year and also announced to finance over $6 billion for the country to implement 44 programs and projects in the 2011-2013 fiscal years. Earlier, Victoria Kwakwa, WB Country Director in Vietnam urged Vietnam to boost ODA disbursement to avoid huge economic losses, adding that the country is estimated to spend up to 8.6 years on average an ODA-funded project, much longer than many regional nations. Meanwhile, Leader of the World Bank Procurement Hub Kofi Awanyo, said the inconsistence between international and domestic procurement regulations is a difficulty for Vietnam’s ODA disbursement. The Vietnamese government will soon hold a meeting to review the 35th year of the WB-Vietnam cooperation in Nha Trang city, the central province of Khanh Hoa.
