The World Bank (WB) has approved a US$60 million credit package for Vietnam to help the country strengthen its social assistance system.  With the funding, Vietnam can improve its social assistance system by improving management and service delivery nationwide, WB Country Director to Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa said on Thursday. Specifically, the funding will be used for the Social Assistance System Strengthening Project, which facilitates the Vietnamese Government in poverty reduction. The project, which is jointly conducted by the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UK Department for International Development and the WB, will be piloted in Ha Giang, Quang Nam, Tra Vinh and Lam Dong provinces.

Deputy Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Trong Dam said that the project will help build a consolidated social assistance system and lay the foundation for a robust social welfare system in the future. The project will create a great opportunity for Vietnam to build a new modern system that ensures everyone’s right to access social protection services, Dam said. During a meeting with WB Country Director Victoria Kwakwa on the same day, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said Vietnam hopes its cooperation with the WB will further develop and be more effective in 2014. Apart from its internal strength, Vietnam hopes to receive greater support from the international community as well as the WB for the country’s social and economic development, PM Dung added. In reply, the WB official said the bank will stand side by side with Vietnam in implementing its development goals.