Foreign-aided post-WTO accession assistance program launchs

VNGOVNet – The program ‘Maintenance of sustainable development and poverty reduction through the implementation of World Trade Organization commitments’ launched in the January 24 afternoon at a signing ceremony involving the Government Office and the two financial donors of AusAid and the Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK.

January 25, 2007 8:46 AM GMT+7

The signing ceremony of the post-WTO accession technical assistance program – Photo: VNGOVNet

The program, with AusAid and the DFID providing non-refundable grants and the World Bank offering expertise, will be implemented for six years starting from January 2007 with the initial budget of US$ 15 million.

It consists of two phases. Phase I involves concretizing Government action plans and Phase II is meant to support Vietnam in realizing its commitments to WTO and other international organizations.

The program's objectives are to boost economic growth and reduce poverty in combination with fullfiling Vietnam's commitments and obligations towards WTO by helping the Government, its departments, and local authorities to formulate policies, manage economic integration, and facilitate the shift to a socialist-oriented market economy.

According to Minister and Director of the Government Office Đoàn Mạnh Giao, the program sets a new model of carrying out technical assistance programs, in which the beneficiary's sense of ownership is enhanced by engaging itself in design and execution.

A series of bilateral memoranda were signed between the sponsors and the Government Office.

By Thanh Thúy