(VOVworld)- World Bank (WB) Country Director in Vietnam Ousmane Dione has pledged to assist Vietnam in fields of request and stand ready to offer policy consultations to the Vietnamese government.

WB Country Director in Vietnam Ousmane Dione (L) and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (Source: VNA)

During a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi on December 21, Dione said he will do his best to strengthen the bilateral relationship which was fostered by his predecessors.

He wished that the Vietnamese government would provide all possible support for him to fulfill assigned tasks during his tenure.

Deputy PM Minh, for his part, assured the guest that the financial assistance provided by the WB is being effectively utilised for socio-economic development in Vietnam.

He thanked the lender for coordinating with development partners to consider a solution to help Vietnam graduate from the International Development Association’s preferential treatment for 2018-2021, which suits Vietnam’s specific socio-economic conditions.

The host asked the WB to continue helping Vietnam with socio-economic development, especially in poverty reduction, health care, climate change response and rural development and agriculture.

As one of the largest donors of Vietnam, the WB committed 22.5 billion USD in non-refundable aid and preferential loans to the country as of September 2016, most of them are used for poverty reduction, rural infrastructure upgrade, health care, clean water supply and climate change response.-