Vietnam Official Development Assistance (ODA)

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Carol Douglas

9:51pm Thursday 29 July

Vietnam Official Development Assistance (ODA)

New Zealand's current bilateral ODA activities are focused on the health sector in the central coastal province of Binh Dinh and on nationally-funded initiatives in the education sector. The bilateral ODA allocation for Viet Nam in the 2006/2007 financial year is NZ$6.7 million and will increase to NZ$10 million by 2007/2008. NZAID recently approved a grant of US$4 million over 2006-2009 for the implementation of Viet Nam's National EFA Plan, which will support Viet Nam's goal of universal primary education.

NZAID completed its Viet Nam Country Strategy in 2007. Sectors of focus are rural livelihoods, education, and trade and development.

The ELTO (English Language Training for Officials) programme is the most visible, longest standing and well recognised of NZAID's activities in Viet Nam. Over more than a decade, a total of some 250 Vietnamese Government officials have come to New Zealand to study English language with specialised themes such as foreign affairs, international trade, and agriculture. The New Zealand Development Scholarships (NZDS) programme, which commenced in 2006, offers eleven post-graduate scholarships per year to Viet Nam - eight public scholarships targeted at government officials and three open scholarships. An additional 10 scholarships were recently announced. The NZDS-Public scholarships are targeted at sectors of importance to rural livelihoods and trade (agriculture, horticulture, natural resource management, bio-security, tourism, food safety/quality and agribusiness), basic education and governance.

Since 2004, NZAID has responded to the emergence of Avian Influenza (bird flu) in Viet Nam by providing emergency assistance through CARE International. Projects have assisted the disinfection process and built capacity of local authorities to deal with any future outbreaks, as well as strengthening training, outreach and prevention services for the ongoing avian influenza response in Binh Dinh and Long An provinces. NZAID has pledged support for capacity building, investigation and surveillance activities at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

NZAID's Trade and Development Programme is assisting sectors of importance to the poor (agriculture, food quality and food safety, livelihood improvement) and supporting the newer members of ASEAN to establish the capability and mechanisms that will facilitate their integration into national, regional and international markets. NZAID's Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) programme funds capacity building and institutional strengthening courses for officials from Viet Nam at the Mekong Institute (MI) in Khon Kaen, Northern Thailand.

Since its inception 15 years ago, NZAID's Asia Development Assistance Facility (ADAF) has funded NZ$13 million for 76 projects in Viet Nam. Recent projects have ranged from organic tea production, to assisting Viet Nam prepare documents for a US$32 million World Bank loan for road safety in Viet Nam, and an associated project that developed materials for teaching traffic safety in primary schools.

Viet Nam also benefits from regional and global NZAID programmes.