66071

       SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM: COUNTRY PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY

                                                                      FY2012-FY2016

                                                                 CHAIR’S SUMMING UP*

                                                               Meeting of Executive Directors

                                                                    December 15, 2011


       The Board of Executive Directors discussed the joint IDA/IBRD/IFC/MIGA Country
Partnership Strategy (CPS) for the Socialist Republic of Vietnam for FY2012-FY2016, the first
CPS since it became a lower middle-income country (R2011-0250; IDA/R2011-0321;
IFC/R2011-0309; MIGA/R2011-0079).

         Directors commended the Vietnamese authorities for the country’s development
achievements over the last 25 years. They recognized that Vietnam faces important challenges
to maintain high levels of growth and continue to reduce poverty. They noted particular
challenges in restoring macroeconomic stability, reducing the high inflation rate, and addressing
its structural roots. Directors welcomed the Government’s attention to macroeconomic stability
since early 2011 and the close collaboration between the Bank and the IMF in providing support
to the Government on this issue.

       Directors expressed broad support for the CPS and found that it responds well to
Vietnam’s development challenges, as articulated in the Government’s new five-year Socio-
Economic Development Plan.           They agreed with the CPS’s priorities of enhancing
competitiveness, sustainability, and opportunity, and welcomed the fact that governance, gender,
and resilience would be mainstreamed throughout the strategy. They urged the Bank Group to
ensure greater selectivity in the program going forward, and welcomed its strong partnerships
with other development partners in Vietnam.

        Directors encouraged the World Bank Group to support the Government in deepening
structural reforms in public financial management, State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), financial
sector, export-support sectors, including infrastructure, and private sector development. They
also encouraged the country to increase transparency and access to information, particularly
related to SOEs. Directors urged the Bank to work closely with the Government to strengthen
portfolio implementation and disbursements in order to achieve development results faster. In
this regard, they stressed the need to reduce the current high level of undisbursed balances,
particularly given the envisaged growth of the program in the CPS period.

       Finally, Directors were encouraged by the authorities’ strong ownership of the strategy
and looked forward to its successful implementation.


                                                            
*
      This summary is not an approved record.