Ha Noi (VNA) - Agricultural and rural development in combination with poverty alleviation is still one of the Vietnamese government's top priorities in use of official development assistance (ODA) in the 2006-2010 period.

The total ODA to be used for the 2006-2010 period  is estimated at 11-12 billion USD, accounting for 80 percent of total committed ODA in the period.

The Government has also defined other priorities in ODA utilisation, including transport, water supply and sewage, irrigation development, construction of universities, training human resources, and some industrial development projects and programmes with high likelihood of investment returns, job creation and a positive contribution to poverty reduction.

The government also put forth a series of measures for efficient ODA mobilisation and utilisation. They include implementing the strategy regarding foreign debt and debt service as a first step toward improving the efficiency of ODA loans and securing the safety of foreign grants, promulgating the amendments to related legal documents on ODA management and utilization, improving the performance of the ODA working team, incorporating the supervision of ODA-funded projects and programmes into general investment supervision, strengthening project monitoring and evaluation, and further harmonising procedures with donors, either in groups or individually.

In the 2001-2005 period, donors committed 13.64 billion USD in ODA for Viet Nam, including non-refundable aid (accounting for 20 percent) and concessional loans. From 2001-Nov. 2004, the Government signed with donors international ODA treaties worth approximately 8.6 billion USD, accounting for 84 percent of the total committed ODA. 

Nearly 6 billion USD in ODA has been disbursed, accounting for 55 percent of the total committed ODA and additional 1.7 billion USD is expected to be disbursed in 2005.

According to donors, Viet Nam's ODA disbursement has been markedly improved, in comparison with other regional countries.

According to the Government's report on ODA mobilisation and utilisation at the Consultative Group meeting of donors for Viet Nam this year, ODA capital has been used effectively in transport and electricity supply , development of power generation sources and power transmission and distribution grids, agricultural and rural development and poverty reduction, healthcare, education, and strengthening  institutions.

ODA capital makes up about 15 percent of the total investment from the State budget. ODA-funded projects have helped improve economic infrastructure, especially in transport and electricity. ODA-funded projects helped develop the national highway network with the construction of national highways 1a, 3, 18, 9 and the Trans-Asia Road; build big bridges of My Thuan, Can Tho, Thanh Tri, and Binh, and Cai Lan, Sai Gon and Tien Sa seaports. ODA has also been invested in power projects such as Phu My, Ham Thuan-Da Mi, O Mon and Dai Ninh.

ODA also markedly contributed to Viet Nam's impressive achievements in poverty alleviation. The country's poverty rate has fallen to 7 percent from 37 percent in 1998. ODA also contributed to social infrastructure development, and exerted positive impact on improving Viet Nam's human development index. ODA capital represented 10 percent of the total allocation for education and training.

The Government also pointed to weaknesses and shortcomings limiting the efficiency of ODA, including the slow disbursement due to the lack of procedure harmonisation of synchronous legal documents, and ineffective ODA management and supervision.