(VOVworld) – Nearly 20 years ago, on November 8, 1993, a round-table on Official Development Assistance for Vietnam opened in Paris. This was an important milestone in Vietnam’s relations with foreign donators to its renewal process. For 20 years, Vietnam, which used to be a poor, backward country, has exploited its internal strength and taken full advantage of ODA from foreign donors to become a middle-income country. VOV looks at the two decades of cooperation between Vietnam and these donors.

Effectively use financial resources

Figures released by the Ministry of Planning and Investment at a celebration in Hanoi on October 17 of 20 years of development cooperation between Vietnam and foreign donors showed ODA commitments to Vietnam of 78 billion USD, almost 4 billion USD per year. ODA has been an important financial resource for Vietnam’s comprehensive socio-economic reform.

Good results have been achieved thanks to the Vietnamese government’s consistent ODA policies. Late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet said at the ODA round-table in Paris that the Vietnamese government would take the responsibility of managing and using foreign aid with a deep understanding that the Vietnamese people would pay a heavy price for any failure to effectively use the resources. Every four years, the government revises decrees on ODA management and usage, especially the decentralizing policies for administrative agencies and intensifying supervision on the implementation of ODA projects. The effective use of ODA for national development targets has persuaded donors to increase their ODA commitments to Vietnam year after year, even during the global economic crisis and the resulting financial restraints in the donor countries. World Bank Country Director for Vietnam, Victoria Kwakwa, told the meeting: “A fundamental reason for the extraordinary success of Vietnam’s ODA partnership is the strong Government ownership of its development vision and agenda.  Vietnam has sought ideas, knowledge and even advice from development partners and then found ways to contextualize and adapt it to fit Vietnam’s own context. Another factor has been Government use of ODA assistance as vehicles to test different policy options across a wide range of sectors.”   

Economists say Vietnam will face a lot of difficulties and challenges in the next few years. There is pressure to hasten the disbursement for ODA projects signed between 2006 and 2010, while wisely managing loans with fewer incentives now that Vietnam has become a middle-income country. A positive signal is that the international community of donors has promised to stand by Vietnam during its development process. Motonori Tsuno, chief representative of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, one of Vietnam’s biggest ODA donors, said: “The Vietnamese government plans to become an industrial country by 2020. In order to achieve this goal, Vietnam is focusing on three key priorities: improving the infrastructure, developing human resources, and fine-tuning policies. We can help Vietnam fulfill these tasks. We have provided and will continue to provide Vietnam with financial and technical assistance.”

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung expressed his gratitude to the donors at the celebration of 20 years of ODA: “We appreciate the precious capital you provided when Vietnam was poor and your technical assistance and policy consultations when Vietnam was struggling to reform its economy, demonstrated the morale of friendship, humanity, and mutual assistance. The Vietnamese government always treasures and effectively uses international ODA and we’ll not betray your trust.”

Mr. Dung expressed his hope that based on the partnership built over the past 2 decades Vietnam will continue receiving strong and effective assistance from donors to maintain its sustainable and prosperous growth.