MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Downer
Together with the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development for
Vietnam, H.E. Mr Le Huy Ngo, I have launched today a new project to strengthen
Vietnam's ability to participate in the global economy and enable it to
meet its ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), APEC and World Trade Organisation
(WTO) obligations.
Under the project, part of a A$10 million (VND 101 billion)
Vietnam-Australia governance program, around 700 officers from
Vietnam's Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD) and other
relevant government agencies will directly benefit from project
activities. This will include training in analytical techniques,
economic modelling and policy development. The project will support
Vietnam to determine how best to respond to the opening of Vietnam's rural
economy to international trade, and to develop a road map for integrating the
agricultural sector into the international economy.
Minister Le Huy Nho and I acknowledged Vietnam's impressive economic
growth over the last decade, with an average 6-7% per annum putting it amongst
the fastest growing nations in the world. It has achieved this through
initiatives such as the lowering of trade barriers, legal and financial reforms
and by reducing restrictions on foreign and domestic investment.
The poor have been major beneficiaries of these policies, with poverty
having been halved from 58% to 29% over the decade. A major challenge for
Vietnam is to intensify the reforms needed to continue this growth and bring
poorer and more remote regions into the domestic and international
economies. The project will assist the Government of Vietnam to identify
groups who will need extra assistance to respond to the new global economic
environment.
This project is a very effective way in which Australia can help Vietnam in
its efforts to reduce poverty and improve the standard and quality of life of
its people. Agriculture generates jobs for 73 per cent of the labour
force, contributes 33 per cent of GDP and 50 per cent of the country's
export earnings. It is critical that the sector continues to become more
responsive and resilient in the face of world trade openness.
Media enquiries:
Chris Kenny (Ministerial) 0419 206 890
Jo Elsom (AusAID)02 6206 4960 or 0412 804 489
Russell Miles (Australian Embassy Hanoi) +84 4 831 7754 (ext 123)