12-15-06, 8:47 am

Ha Noi (VNA)- The Vietnamese Government leader has attributed the country's impressive economic growth and poverty reduction progress partially to international assistance.

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung opened a Consultative Group Meeting in Ha Noi on Dec. 14 by reviewing Viet Nam's achievements over the past two decades, including a GDP growth rate of 7.5 percent annually, which reached 8.2 percent in 2006.

Dung, the first Vietnamese Prime Minister to attend the Consultative Group's meeting, said that his cabinet and he are very open to cooperate with donors in an effort to bring bilateral and multilateral relations to successful results.

His view was echoed by Planning and Investment Minister Vo Hong Phuc who said 2006 witnessed great efforts by both the Vietnamese Government and donors in increasing the efficiency of international aid and in harmonising standard procedures.

Viet Nam has been recognised as a vanguard in fulfilling its Paris Global commitments on aid efficiency, said Phuc.

He added that a new decree on ODA management and usage with further transparency and better harmony of relevant procedures has been highly expected to make a turning point in increasing the disbursement and improving the quality of ODA-funded programmes and projects.

Phuc reiterated the Government's commitments to speed up restructuring State-run enterprises, strengthen commercial banks and push up administrative reforms and crack-down on corruption.

In regard to corruption, the Minister said recent embezzlement issues have not caused any impact on the quality of the projects or the efficiency of the use of ODA.

'We have made and will continue with efforts to crack down on corruption without compromise in an effort to increase donors and tax-payers' trust,' pledged the Minister. He called on donors to continue financial assistance to Viet Nam in the next five years, pledging that ODA sources will be prioritised for major infrastructure projects which lay a firm foundation for high and sustainable development leading to effective poverty reduction.

In his remark about Viet Nam's next five-year plan, WB Country Director Klaus Rohland, who co-sponsored the CG meeting, said Viet Nam has recorded great achievements, which pave a solid ground for the country to pursue ambitious targets.

To reach that end, Viet Nam should further concentrate on the growth quality and employ a new concept on economic management and handling, urged the WB executive. The two-day meeting will be concluded in the afternoon of Dec. 15 with the donors' commitments to Viet Nam for 2007, which major donation coordinators expect to be maintained on the same level with 2006.

From Vietnam News Agency