(VOVworld) - The World Bank (WB)’s Board of Directors have approved two credit packages worth a combined 315 million USD to assist Vietnam’s agricultural restructuring and general education reform, according to the WB in Vietnam.

The project supports Government efforts to reform the agriculture sector, especially in the two important sub-sectors of rice and coffee, said Chris Jackson, the World Bank’s Lead Rural Development Specialist and team leader for the project. He said Vietnam is now a major global exporter of rice and coffee, yet the preoccupation with volume targets has resulted in the extensive use of unsustainable practices and high-volume but low-value exports. Sustained agricultural growth would require structural changes in the pattern of production and organisation of the supply chain to benefit small-holder rice and coffee farmers, which is the main goal of the project.

A second credit package of 77 million USD will finance the renovation of a general education project to raise students learning outcomes by providing assistance to help update and implement a new competency-based curriculum for primary, lower-secondary and upper-secondary students. The project will also improve the assessment system and effectiveness of instruction by creating and disseminating textbooks in line with the revised curriculum.