(VOVworld) – Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh expressed his hope that UNDP will continue to support Vietnam to complete the MDGs by 2015, implement its socio-economic development strategy from 2011 to 2020, and avoid the trap of middle income country.

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh receives UNDP Administrator and Chairwoman of the UN Development Group Helen Clark (Photo: Phuong Hoa/ VNA)

He said this at a meeting with Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator and Chairwoman of the UN Development Group (UNDG), who is in Vietnam to attend the UNDP and UNDG Asia-Pacific Meetings.

Mrs. Clark affirmed that UNDP would accompany Vietnam in carrying out the socio-economic development strategy from 2011 to 2020 and assist the country in capacity building, policy consultation, and responding to climate change.

Speaking at the opening of the Asia-Pacific Meeting with Regional Directors of the UN offices in Asia on Friday, Mrs. Clark appreciated Vietnam’s active cooperation with UNDP.

She said Vietnam had recorded various results and had taken the lead in the poverty reduction program in Asia-Pacific. Vietnam has paid attention to sustainable development and environmental protection, building foundations for boosting cooperation between the UNDP and Vietnam. Mrs. Clark underscored Vietnam’s impressive progress in implementing the Millennium Development Goals, especially in poverty reduction and general education. Vietnam is included in the world’s top 6 countries in implementing the MDGs.