An Interview with Klaus Rohland

You’ve been working in Vietnam since 2002. How has the country changed in recent years?

Well, Vietnam is certainly different than it was 10 years ago because Vietnam has developed very fast, and it really has achieved development with inclusion. You all know the figures: Income more than doubled. Poverty reduced from more than 70 percent to less than 20 percent of the population. This is reflected in the way the Vietnamese look into the future.

When I talk to our staff in the office, 35-year olds, they all lived in hunger in the 1980s. They all know how it feels to wake up in the morning hungry and wonder whether you will have enough to eat for the day. Their children, now, don’t know hunger. They are well fed. They have access to health care. They are well educated, and there’s a general sense of optimism because of that.

How has the Bank worked with the Government to bring about change in Vietnam?

Our work with the government of Vietnam really focuses on systemic issues. When you fund projects in a given country, it’s very important that you look beyond that specific project and try to achieve systemic change.

Take the example of education. Of course, in the beginning, we built schools. And we still build schools because Vietnam needs schools – it needs more schools that it has. But we have also focused on teacher training. We’ve engaged the Government on issues such as developing curricula for disadvantaged children. Should ethnic minorities first be educated in their mother tongue and then in Vietnamese? This is a question many countries in the world grapple with and it’s an area in which we can bring our global knowledge to the table while respecting local conditions. What has worked in other countries? What hasn’t worked? We can help the Vietnamese people make a choice based on international experience.

We’ve worked with the Ministry of Education and seen a change of attitude. Rather than being a simple provider of education, the ministry now drafts policy for education and focuses on quality.

It’s the same in the health sector or when it comes to roads. We’re not merely building roads but setting up systems for road maintenance. These systemic issues are at the forefront of our work in Vietnam now -- and for the next five or so years as Vietnam completes its transition to a market economy.

Vietnam is moving towards a middle-income status. Why does the Bank need to stay engaged?

Vietnam certainly has achieved great results. And there’s probably no other country in the world that, over the last 15 years, has moved its development so far and so fast. But Vietnam also realizes – and we share that view – that the more difficult choices are yet to come.

The reforms of the last 10 years were about land reform. The farmers got their land back. Reforms were about moving towards an export-oriented mode of production -- and exports have been driving Vietnam’s growth substantially. Vietnam moved from importing rice to feed its people to the second largest rice exporter of the world.

Looking ahead, you see a Vietnam that just has acceded to WTO. You see a Vietnam that is about to complete its transition to a market economy. And you see a Vietnam that is desperately in need of institutions for a market economy. The big challenge of Vietnam will be to build up these institutions.