The selection, made at the 2008 annual meeting of the WB Group and the IMF held on Oct. 14 in the US, reflected the international community’s trust and appreciation of Vietnam’s achievements in socio-economic development, particularly the State Bank of Vietnam’s efforts in consolidating its relationship with IMF and WB, as well as in formulating and steering monetary policies.

Since resuming its financial links with the IMF and WB in 1993, Vietnam has enjoyed an excellent relationship with the two financial organisations.

During the 1993-2004 period, the IMF granted four loans worth nearly 1.1 billion USD to Vietnam .

Each year, working delegations from the IMF visit Vietnam in order to receive an update on the country’s macro-economic situation as well as providing policy-making consultancy services in the financial and banking, trade and state-owned enterprise renovation sectors.

The IMF also provides Vietnam with technical assistance in many areas such as foreign exchange, the open-market, banking inspections, tax reforms and anti-money laundering.

To the WB, Vietnam is one of the largest preferential loan recipients of the WB International Development Association (IDA). IDA’s financial support in the form of preferential loans and technical assistance plays a key role in Vietnam-WB relations.

From 1993 to August 2008, the WB committed 8.42 billion USD to over 80 projects in Vietnam , including 73 programmes and projects worth a total of 7.35 billion USD which have been carried out. Of the total loans, 4.6 billion USD have been disbursed so far.

In the 2008 fiscal year, Vietnam and the WB have negotiated nine programmes and projects worth 1.1 billion USD, the largest ever in a single fiscal year, focusing on poverty eradication and the development of education and infrastructure.

The WB plans to provide nearly 1.85 billion USD to Vietnam for the implementation of 15 programmes during 2009.

The financial assistance not only positively assists Vietnam ’s work towards poverty alleviation and socio-economic development, but also contributes to boosting the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and the country’s international integration.