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February 6, 2007
HIGHLIGHTS FULL CONTENTS 
| SPECIAL PACKAGE - Vietnam: A Country On the Move |
 New Five-Year Plan for Vietnam Amid Striking Poverty Reduction Results
The World Bank says it expects to provide more than US$800 million a year over the next five years in interest-free grants and loans to Vietnam – a country it describes as having the potential to be one of the great success stories in development. The Bank's new Country Partnership Strategy for Vietnam describes the country’s success in reducing poverty and promoting economic growth as “spectacular”.
Story| Press Release| Country Partnership Strategy 2007-2011 A Way Out of Poverty - Focus on the Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project
In what is one of the poorest areas of Vietnam, some 75 village and primary school classrooms have been built under the project, bringing education to within one kilometer of almost 8000 families in this region.
The Northern Mountains project goes beyond just providing infrastructure. It’s also aimed at empowering the local communities in the region, one of the poorest in Vietnam. Fifteen percent of the total project cost of US$132 million goes direct to the communes – the lowest level of authority in Vietnam.
Story| Video (Real Player) Slideshow – A photographic look at the country
Quiz – What do you know about Vietnam?
Q&A – The Bank’s Director for Vietnam discusses the country’s progress.
Video (Real Player) Country Study - Vietnam’s transformation in an 8-page brief (45k pdf) IDA at Work: Vietnam
The International Development Association has been engaged with Vietnam since 1993. Take an in-depth, retrospective look at Vietnam’s economic transformation during those years.
Project Profiles:
Vietnam Extends Reach of Its Education System
With the help of the Education Project, net primary school enrollment rate in the five provinces included increased from 86 percent in 1993 to 95 percent in 2002. Completion rates rose from 75.8 percent to 83 percent. Drop-out rates went down and the participation of children from ethnic minorities increased in the five provinces.
Reliable Energy Sparks Change in Vietnam
The First Rural Energy Project allowed around 2.7 million people in some of the poorest, rural areas of Vietnam to have a reliable electricity supply for the first time in their lives. They report higher incomes, improved health conditions, better quality of education, less time spent on housework and more business development opportunities.
Building the Basics: Linking People to Roads
The Second Rural Transport Project provided improved access to all-weather roads for approximately 16 million rural people -- 950,000 of whom were poor. Some 210,000 people lifted out of poverty.
More information on Vietnam at
www.worldbank.org/vn |
Other news
Philippines: Equity and Fairness Central Elements of a Development Strategy
World Bank Senior Vice-President for Development Economics and Chief Economist François Bourguignon spoke at a lecture-forum on the role of equity in development. "Developing countries will be better able to achieve higher growth and faster reduction of poverty if equity and fairness become central elements of a development strategy," he said.
World Bank Continues Leadership In Fight Against Corruption, Report Shows
The World Bank continues to take a leadership role in the fight against fraud and corruption, investigating and closing more than 400 cases involving Bank-financed projects over the past two fiscal years and sanctioning over 100 entities for engaging in wrongdoing in projects, according to a new report.
Over the past two fiscal years, the World Bank Group’s Institutional Integrity Department (INT) investigated and closed 441 external investigations into fraud and corruption in Bank financed projects, says the Integrity Report of the World Bank Group, Fiscal Years 2005 - 2006. As a result of such investigations, the Bank debarred 58 firms and 54 individuals due to fraud and corruption over the period covered in the report, rendering them ineligible to participate in Bank-financed projects.
Press release | Update on Bank consultations in Governance and Anticorruption
Avian Flu 2007: Virus Continues to Spread
The Avian Flu virus has continued to spread since countries pledged some $1.9 billion last year to prevent and combat it. The Bank’s experts say the virus remains a threat to poultry and human health. Carried by wild birds and through poultry trade, the virus now has reached at least 55 nations around the world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, over 220 million domestic birds in developing countries have died or been culled in efforts to contain the virus. Economic losses in the Southeast Asia poultry sector alone are estimated at around US$10 billion, and culling has cost the African poultry industry another $60 million. More Bank news at www.worldbank.org/news Back to top
Children's Work in Cambodia: A Challenge for Growth and Poverty Reduction
Child labor constitutes a key obstacle to achieving universal primary
education and other Millennium Development Goals in Cambodia. It not
only harms the welfare of individual children, but also slows broader
national poverty reduction and development efforts.
This December 2006 report analyzes the situation and determinants of child labor in Cambodia. It also provides an overview of the national response and a background for the discussion of different policy options.
Vietnam Gender Assessment 2006
A Bank report says that Vietnam has made good progress in improving gender equality and adds that given the attention gender has received in national planning, further improvements seem assured. With one of the highest rates of economic participation of women in the world, Vietnam is one of the more advanced countries with respect to gender equality. However, the progress is not entirely uniform, and it faces new
challenges as the country moves to a more open market economy. The “Vietnam Gender Assessment 2006” provides the analytical background and a common framework for the donors and the government in tackling gender inequality in the future. Indonesia: Untapped Domestic Financial Resources --up to 14% of GDP-- can be Better Managed for Development
Indonesia can mobilize an additional IDR 375 trillion (over US$40 billion) from financial institutions outside the banking sector for development purposes says a new Bank report. It focuses on the challenge of financing Indonesia’s development and the key role that non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) – insurance firms, pension funds, mutual funds, leasing and venture capital companies and capital markets - can play in providing much-needed resources.
Press release | Full report - 1.5mb pdf | Executive Summary: English (304k pdf) and Bahasa Indonesia (300k pdf) Toxic Pollution from Agriculture Endangering Farmers
In recent decades, the indiscriminate use of agricultural pesticides has created very serious health and environmental problems in many developing countries. One to five million farm workers are estimated to suffer pesticide poisoning every year (WHO, UNEP) and at least 20,000 die annually from exposure, many of them in developing countries.
To test the reliability of self-reported data, the research team conducted an acetyl cholinesterase enzyme (AChE) blood test for 190 rice farmers in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. Results reveal a high prevalence of pesticide poisoning—more than 35 percent of the tested farmers experienced acute pesticide poisoning and 21 percent were chronically poisoned.
Story | Report Fiscal Decentralization in China
Fiscal decentralization is widely recognized as an essential component in China’s remarkable transition to a market economy. However, the intergovernmental fiscal system is now facing significant challenges—increasing regional disparities, proliferation of off-budgetary funds, deficient and unequal public services delivery, farmers’ financial burden, and rural unrest. Researchers Shen and Zou examine the degree of fiscal decentralization in China, the intensifying financial pressures on local governments since the introduction of the tax-sharing system in 1994, and the shortcomings of the current system of intergovernmental transfers in addressing the financing of local public services and regional fiscal disparities. They call for further debate on their suggestions for a more harmonious intergovernmental system. Are there Lasting Impacts of Aid to Poor Areas? Evidence from Rural China
In the late 1990s, the Southwest China Poverty Reduction Project emphasized community participation in multi-sectoral interventions, including farming, animal husbandry, infrastructure and social services. Researchers Chen, Mu, and
Ravallion revisit the site of this large World Bank-financed program area four years after disbursements ended and evaluate the program’s impact based on ten-year survey data. They find a sizeable, statistically significant impact on mean household income during the disbursement period (1995-2000), but a much smaller impact on consumption with short-term income gains being largely saved. Modest gains to mean consumption emerged in the longer term. More Bank publications and reports at www.worldbank.org/reference
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 Approved: CHINA -Third National Railway Project
US$200 million to provide a major increase in capacity to the Liupanshui-Zhanyi section of the Guiyang-Kunming railway line, improving the service quality of passenger as well as freight transport by halving the transit times and enabling operation of double-stack container trains..
Press release | Project details New and revised project information documents: China - Anhui Highway Rehabilitation and Improvement China - Han River Urban Environment Improvement China - Hubei Yiba Highway China - Commercially Sustainable Micro and Small Business Finance Indonesia - Second Government Financial Management and Revenue Administration Indonesia - Kecamatan-Based Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Planning in Nias Indonesia - Community Recovery Through SPADA Papua New Guinea - Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Philippines - National Program Support for Tax Administration Reform Vietnam - Avian & Human Influenza Control & Preparednes Vietnam - Priority Infrastructure Investment Vietnam - Hanoi Urban Transport Development Vietnam - Second Higher Education Project For more information on projects and programs, visit http://www.worldbank.org/projects Back to top 
International Essay Competition 2007 – Fighting Corruption
The World Bank and its partners invite you to participate in the International Essay Competition 2007 to share your experience and ideas on fighting corruption.
Answer both topic questions: 1) How does corruption affect your life? and 2) What can you do to fight the corruption that you face?
The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2007. The essay competition is open for nationals of ALL countries of the world, students and non-students alike, aged 18-25. Students enrolled in Ph.D. courses are, however, not eligible to participate.
Avian and Human Influenza Seminar Series - Compensation Policies: Issues and Good Practice
February 13 (check local times)
The seminar will be led by co-authors from the interagency team comprising of FAO, OiE, IFPRI and the World Bank that developed the “Enhancing Control of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Developing Countries through Compensation” report. The co-authors will present and discuss the key findings of the report, while seminar participants will have the opportunity to engage in a substantive discussion around some of the main issues arising in this complex policy area.
The seminar will be webcast live at
http://vcg01.worldbank.org/vc/
More information
Video Meeting - On Measuring Governance
Governance has become a central topic in development, and many sets of indicators have been developed to measure the quality of governance and to rank countries accordingly. But how are these measurements made and the indicators applied? What issues arise in constructing and using governance indicators? In this B-Span presentation, Bank and external experts discussed data and methodologies used to develop governance indicators, the respective advantages and disadvantages of various indicators, issues related to the use of indicators in measuring the results of various development policy actions, and directions for future development.
Program Assistant for Finance and Administration
Manila, Philippines
Application deadline: February 16
2007/08 Joint Japan/ Bank Scholarship Applications Now Available
Applications for the Joint Japan/World Bank Scholarship Program for the 2007 - 08 academic years are now available. The Bank, with funding from the government of Japan, established the World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program for graduate studies in subjects related to economic development. Each year, the Program awards scholarships to individuals from the Bank’s member countries to undertake graduate studies at renowned universities throughout member countries of the Bank. Now in its 20th year, the Regular Program has awarded 2,613 scholarships, selected from nearly 53,000 applicants. For a full list of open positions and scholarships http://www.worldbank.org/jobs Back to top
 New Bank site in Bahasa Indonesia
To increase outreach to the provinces and in response to requests from visitors to the World Bank’s Regional Development Information Centers in 16 State universities in Indonesia, the World Bank Indonesia launched its Bahasa Indonesia language website. A companion to the English language country site which currently draws 8,000 visitors and generates 35,000 page views a month, the new Bahasa Indonesia website will reach a large domestic audience that follows development issues and can now access information more easily through a dedicated, user-friendly site. New site: Rural Development in East Asia & Pacific
This new site provides a comprehensive overview of the rural development and agriculture program in the region, and contains extensive information about each country, links to most recent publications and reports, and other useful material.
www.worldbank.org/eaprural Resources for Development Practitioners
This web site provides an overview of the literature, case studies, lessons learned, and good practices pertaining to capacity development. The resources presented in these topics aim to address global challenges encountered by practitioners of capacity development through the sharing of best practices and lessons learned. The web site also includes links to international and local capacity development agencies and other knowledge resources.
Lao PDR is part of a small group of country initiatives. Back to top
The Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project in Vietnamhas built more than 250 kms of rural roads, used by population of over 80,000; has provided irrigation for more than 1,300 ha of farm land used by over 15,000 households; and some 75 village and primary school classrooms have been built and equipped, among other results.
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