The European Union (EU) delegation to Vietnam has published the 2012 Blue Book, indicating that EU is still one of Vietnam’s leading official development assistance (ODA) prodders with a committed aid of EUR745.3 million. The aid will promote policy changes and contribute to economic growth and employment generation in Vietnam, said Ambassador Franz Jessen, who is Head of the EU delegation to Vietnam. This year’s EU-committed aid for Vietnam is concentrated on public finance management, economic reform, private sector development, social fields and technology, he noted. Jessen added that to deal more effectively with social inequality, the EU will focus on supporting green growth in order to create opportunities to re-orient socioeconomic development and ensure that new investment and employment will assure harmonious growth and an effective use of resources. Amid the economic crisis in Europe in particular and in the globe in general, the EU’s remarkable committed assistance to Vietnam has reflected the importance of the Vietnam-EU relations, he said. EU is the major provider of aid to Vietnam with a total of $972.3 million earmarked for 2011, or 11.1% of total overseas donor commitments to the country. Of this, 42%, or $406.4 million, will be non-refundable aid. (Vietnam Economic Times No. 25 p24)
