WB Credit Approved To Improve Vietnam Agriculture Competitiveness

Contact:
In Vietnam: Ngan Hong Nguyen

Phone: +84-4-9346600 ext. 234

Email: nnguyen5@worldbank.org

In Washington: Mohamad Al-Arief
Phone: +1-202-458-5964

E-mail: malarief@worldbank.org

WashingtonDC, September 23, 2008 - The World Bank Board of Directors today approved an equivelent of US$59.8 million in support of Vietnam’s efforts to improve agriculture competitiveness. The money – coming from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank’s concessional lending arm for low income countries – will be used for the Agriculture Competitiveness Project.  

At the macro level, the Agriculture Competitiveness Project supports the government’s strategy on market-oriented agricultural development, which is an important element of its drive to eradicate poverty.

At the local level, it aims to strengthen the competitiveness of smallholder farmers, with a focus on eight provinces in central Vietnam, in collaboration with the agribusiness sector. This project is expected to improve smallholders’ access to markets through the provision of technology services, of critical public infrastructure for agriculture, and facilitating farmer organizations and linkages to agribusiness.  

In this regard, it aims to link four large groups of stakeholders to form new public-private partnerships to enhance the competitiveness of the agricultural sector: (1) smallholder farmers, (2) agribusiness entrepreneurs (including local, national, foreign ones), (3) government (provincial and central), and (4) knowledge providers and the research community at large.