Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has thanked the World Bank (WB) for its support for the country’s reform of financial and banking sector, and affirmed that the sector will always stick to relevant international standards.

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PM Dung extended his thanks and affirmation at a meeting with WB Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa in Hanoi yesterday, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

He suggested that the WB evaluate Vietnam’s business environment and help identify sectors that need to be further reformed. The Vietnamese government chief told his guest that Vietnam is accelerating the equitization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to help them adapt to a market economy and improve their business efficiency. The PM also hailed the WB’s assistance to the Ministry of Planning and Investment in devising a public-private partnership (PPP) decree and pledged to ratify the document soon. He also asked the bank to support the Long Thanh-Dau Giay-Phan Thiet expressway project, which is considered a model for other PPP deals in the future.

PM Dung also told his guest that the Vietnamese government had partnered the Dutch government in designing a plan to cope with rising sea level in the Mekong Delta. The central government has also worked out a strategic masterplan for climate change, he added. PM Dung also highly appreciated the US$300 million in aid recently provided by the WB for climate change mitigation in Vietnam. He expressed his hope that the bank would continue supporting Vietnam’s project to plant protective forests in coastal areas. For her part, Kwakwa said Vietnam has gained achievements in streamlining administrative procedures, including those related to taxation and social insurance. The WB official pledged that the bank would stand with Vietnam as it improves its macro-economic policies.

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