PM Phuc made the statement duringa reception in Hanoi on March 30 for ADB President Takehiko Nakao, who is inthe capital city to attend the sixth GMS Summit and the tenth CLV DevelopmentTriangle Summit.
The PM noted that Vietnamattaches importance to the GMS and CLV cooperation and stands ready to workclosely with member countries, ADB and development partners.
The Vietnamese Governmentsupports ADB’s Strategy 2030 to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goalsand to continue assisting its member states in dealing with issues such aspoverty, uneven development, climate change and development of the privatesector, he said.
PM Phuc spoke highly of ADB’spolicies of incorporating low-cost capital and special loans into a balancesheet, thus helping to increase loan resources for member countries, from 14billion USD in 2014 to an estimated 20 billion USD in 2020.
Hailing ADB as one of the leadingcapital and technical assistance suppliers and consultants, the PM said ADB hasfunded over 16 billion USD to 165 programmes and projects in Vietnam, whichhelped build roads, electricity and irrigation system, schools and hospitals.
The Vietnamese leader told hisguest that the government is striving to reform economic sectors, includingfinance-banking, and wants to receive assistance from ADB, especially the AsianDevelopment Fund (ADF)’s preferential loans with extended payment deadline.
PM Phuc called for ADB’scontinued technical assistance, capacity improvement and policy consultationsfor Vietnam, as well as official development assistance (ODA) and loans used inprioritized fields of climate change, infrastructure, rural agriculture,education, health care and poverty reduction.
The government leader saidVietnam will do its best and coordinate with ADB to successfully hold the GMSSummit.
Nakao, for his part, describedVietnam as an important partner of ADB, adding that the bank wants to offermore capital to Vietnam, given that its economy is growing with the publicdebt-to-GDP ratio of nearly 61 percent.
The President said ADB willprovide roughly 613 million USD in ADF preferential loans for Vietnam this yearand suggested the country use the funding in several fields, including financeand hoped that it will be used effectively.
Nakao said ADB wants to receivethe list of projects using such loans in the middle of this year so that itcould be approved in the third quarter.
He added that ADB and severalpartners are planning to offer roughly 1 billion USD in low-cost loans tofoster Vietnam’s development, especially in its efforts to respond to climatechange.-VNA