The World Bank (WB) is to keep looking for ways to help Vietnam meet its development challenges, said Vice President for Concessional Finance and Global Partnerships Axel van Trotsenburg. Trotsenburg, who is also responsible for WB’s International Development Association (IDA), made the statement during his three-day working visit to Vietnam, which ended on June 19. During the visit, he discussed ways to boost the partnership between Vietnam and WB with Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai, Minister of Finance Vuong Dinh Hue, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Van Binh, and Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh. Trotsenburg also noted that Vietnam served as a development success story. The IDA was continuously searching for new ways to be a development partner with Vietnam, he noted. The association planned to focus on key development issues such as climate change, gender equality, crisis related food and natural disasters, as well as conflicts and countries vulnerable to conflicts, he said. In the past, the IDA has given financial support to Vietnam to implement economic reforms, agricultural development, infrastructure construction and programs related to health and education. The association would keep assisting the country during the period of July 2011 to June 2014, he added. WB, the Vietnam’s biggest donor, has pledged to fund $4.2 billion to help Vietnam implement a new Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) in the 2012-2016 period. (Vietnam News Jun 20 p3, Nhan Dan – the People Jun 20 p8, vietnamplus.vn Jun 19)
