The European Union (EU) will continue to help eradicate hunger and reduce poverty in Vietnam in the years to come, Sean Doyle, Head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam said.
Doyle made the pledge at a press briefing in Hanoi June 2 to make public its annual report on EU development in Vietnam.
The EU will work out plans on major development policies, focusing on poverty reduction, specific data on EU disbursement and commitment for development projects in the country in the coming times, he attributed.
Doyle added that Vietnam is considered one of the nations using EU aid packages most effectively, thus, it has received the largest amount of aid in the world.
The EU’s aid packages have supported Vietnam to build infrastructure and improve the quality of human resources in recent years, he said, adding that Vietnam should narrow the widening gaps of inequality and pay due attention to disadvantaged groups.
The EU remains one of Vietnam’s leading donors with a total amount of EUR680 million in pledged non-refundable aid this year.
Vietnam reports 3.05 million poor households and 1.61 million near-poor ones, accounting for 14.2% and 7.53% of its total 87-million population, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) said.
The country, which will spend nearly VND1.81 trillion ($87.44 million) on a sustainable poverty reduction program in 2011, aims to cut the poverty rate to between 4%-5% by 2020, from the current rate of 9.45%. (Phap Luat TP.HCM June 3 p2, Kinh Te Viet Nam & The Gioi June 3 p2, vovnews.vn June 2)
