Vietnam is appealing for the international community to provide it with more official development assistance (ODA), many of which will be used to implement large infrastructure projects nationwide.

"In the 2006-2010 period, we will prioritize using ODA for large-scale infrastructure development projects, considering them a foundation for high and sustainable economic growth in connection with poverty reduction. We hope donors will assist us in this regard," Vietnamese Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said at the 13th Consultative Group (CG) Meeting which opened in Hanoi on Thursday.

Vietnam wants to develop North-South routes, including express railways and highways, urban transport systems in capital Hanoi and southern Ho Chi Minh City, the East-West transport axis in the central region, and two economic corridors and the Beibu Gulf economic belt involving many Chinese and Vietnamese localities, he said.

The Vietnamese government has pledged to create favorable and transparent policies and institutions for the use and management of state capital, accelerate administrative reform and restructure of state-owned enterprises, make the banking sector healthier, and combat corruption more vigorously.

"Through institutional measures, policies, and other concrete actions and solutions, we have been continuing to fight corruption in the most thorough manner without any compromise," he stated.

At the opening session of the two-day CG meeting, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said that Vietnam's socioeconomic development is partly attributed to valuable support of bilateral and multilateral donors, and that he was ready to have dialogues with them. This is the first time a Vietnamese prime minister has dialogues with donors at an annual CG meeting.

In 2006, Vietnam is estimated to post a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 8.1-8.2 percent, higher than the average growth of 7.5-8 percent set for the 2006-2010 period, and have poverty rate of 19 percent compared with 22 percent in 2005, Dung said.

Delegates to the CG meeting, mainly Vietnamese government officials and bilateral and multilateral donors, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, France and Japan, are to discuss the implementation of Vietnam's socioeconomic development plan 2006-2010, its international and regional integration, and ODA harmonization, disbursement and effectiveness.

At the previous CG meeting, donors pledged to offer Vietnam 3.7 billion dollars in ODA. They are expected to commit at least the same amount at the ongoing meeting.

On the first day of the ongoing meeting, the European Union has already pledged to provide Vietnam with 719.9 million euro (956.8 million U.S. dollars).

Source: Xinhua