Asia Times: Southeast Asia


	May 24, 2002	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

EU staunch supporter of Vietnamese reform

HANOI - The European Union will continue assisting Vietnam with funding for poverty reduction and economic and administrative reform, said Ignacio Sagaz, ambassador of Spain, which is the EU member-state currently presiding over the union.

At a press briefing in Hanoi on Wednesday, Sagaz revealed that the EU is deploying a number of development assistance projects in Vietnam with total cumulative commitments amounting to 2.6 billion euros (US$2.4 billion).

The European Commission (EC) has adopted the Country Strategy Paper for Vietnam, which sets out a 2002-06 strategy for financial assistance to Vietnam. The EC will provide Vietnam with 162 million euros for two focal areas: enhancement of human development through integrated rural development and support in the fields of education and health care; and supporting Vietnam's integration into the international economy, particularly its access to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

According to the EU delegation to Vietnam, the total disbursements of EU-funded projects and programs to Vietnam in 2001 amounted to 299 million euros, representing increases of 40 percent and 20 percent compared with 1998 and 2000, respectively. The EU's disbursements accounted for 20 percent of the total official development assistance (ODA) disbursements to Vietnam in 2001.

Of the ODA from the EU, 75 percent is in the form of grants, while credits and loans account for 25 percent. The EU's ODA has been mainly channeled to agriculture (17 percent), natural resources (11 percent), health care (10 percent), human resource development (9.5 percent) and economic management (8.6 percent). In fact, the EU is the largest donor in Vietnam in terms of grant funding.

Sagaz also noted that in addition to bilateral development cooperation with Vietnam, EU member countries have provided ODA to Vietnam through multilateral financial institutions and other international organizations.

Frederic Baron, ambassador and head of the EU Delegation in Hanoi, said the EU is also the No 1 trade partner of Vietnam, with its imports from Vietnam accounting for 20 percent of the country's total export value. The EU has provided technical assistance to Vietnam's Trade Ministry in the process for entering the WTO, he added.

(Asia Pulse/VNA)