Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked relevant ministries, sectors and local governments to hasten the implementation of the Government's information and communications technology development project. With a total budget of approximately US$107 million, including a preferential loan of nearly $87.9 million from the World Bank, the project is an important part of the Government's strategy to develop e-government services. The project aims to increase access to information about policies, services and administrative procedures and improve the efficiency and transparency of Government agencies, provide better public services and more effectively cope with corruption. It was also expected to encourage businesses to participate more actively in utilising new information technologies. So far, however, the project, along with eight others financed by the World Bank, is still experiencing sluggish capital disbursement. As originally planned, the bank loan will have been 100 percent … [Read more...] about PM pushes World Bank-funded project
World bank
World Bank cautions about volatile food prices
The Washington-based World Bank Group cautioned Tuesday that global food prices were high and volatile, and that the world needed to remain vigilant to the trend. Global food prices declined eight percent between September and December of 2011 due to increasing supplies and uncertainty about the global economy, but still remained volatile and high with the 2011 annual index 24 percent higher than its average in 2010, the Bank said Tuesday in a statement releasing its latest Food Price Watch report. "While the first quarter of 2011 witnessed sharp increases, five consecutive months of decreases at the end of the year drove the World Bank Food Price Index seven percent below the December 2010 levels, and 14 percent lower than its February peak. Nevertheless, global prices remain high with the 2011 annual index averaging at 210 points against 169 points average in 2010," said the statement of the Bank. Despite the downward trend over the last few months, global prices of key … [Read more...] about World Bank cautions about volatile food prices
World Bank approves strategy for Vietnam
The World Bank Group's Board of Executive Directors has discussed the Viet Nam Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for the 2012-16 period and approved the first three operations under the new CPS, delivering commitment to support its transition to a sucessful middle income country. Victoria Kwakwa, Country Director for the World Bank in Viet Nam, said that the World Bank Group's first CPS with Viet Nam since it became a lower middle-income country in 2009 would combine continuity from the previous CPS programme with the introduction of some gradual strategic shifts aimed at sharpening strategic focus within the programme, enhancing operational efficiency, and delivering development results faster. Besides outlining Viet Nam's key development achievements, the CPS also highlighted remaining challenges, including maintaining high levels of growth with macroeconomic stability, strengthening economic competitiveness, managing the environment and natural resources and tackling persistent … [Read more...] about World Bank approves strategy for Vietnam
World Bank sees Japan slowdown as mild, temporary
Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami will depress growth briefly before reconstruction kicks off and gives the beleaguered economy a boost, the World Bank said in a report on March 21. It was too early to make accurate estimates, the report noted, but added that Japan's experience of recovering from the 1995 Kobe earthquake bodes well for its ability to cope with the triple disaster of this month's earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis. "If history is any guide, real GDP growth will be negatively affected through mid-2011. Growth should pick up in subsequent quarters as reconstruction efforts, which could last five years, accelerate," the World Bank said in a supplement to its semi-annual East Asia and Pacific Economic Update. "A temporary growth slowdown in Japan will have a modest short-term impact on the region," the Washington-based lender added. The World Bank did not offer its own forecast about the likely cost of Japan's disaster. Citing private estimates, … [Read more...] about World Bank sees Japan slowdown as mild, temporary
World Bank applauds Vietnam’s rural finance project
Vietnam's Rural Finance Project II (RFP II) has helped reduce the poverty rate by 20 - 30 percent in northern mountainous provinces and has brought a number of improvements to these localities. A delegation from the World Bank supervising the project gave this assessment at a meeting with the Deputy Governor of Vietnam's State Bank Nguyen Van Binh in Hanoi on May 15. The RFP II has also introduced several measures to manage the environment and raise people's living standards. The project manager, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), reported that RFP II's capital has risen from US$200 million to US$235 million due to fluctuations in the price of SDR/USD and by March 31, 99 percent of the total capital had been disbursed. The project financed more than 409,000 small projects in 60 provinces and cities nationwide. The same day, WB and BIDV and eight other financial institutions signed a sub-loan contract to launch the third phase of the Rural Finance … [Read more...] about World Bank applauds Vietnam’s rural finance project