5 Conclusions
59. Becoming a middle-income country in 2010 will
be a significant achievement for Vietnam and testament to the
commitment of the Government of Vietnam to harnessing growth for
the benefit of the poor. There will be opportunities for Vietnam,
not least on the back of its recent membership of the World Trade
Organisation. We will watch with interest the impact of that membership
during its first years.
60. Millions of Vietnamese will, however, remain
in poverty regardless of whether the World Bank classifies it
as a low- or middle-income country. DFID is therefore right to
plan to be there beyond 2010. DFID is recognised by its peers
and the Government of Vietnam as having done excellent and pioneering
work there. A DFID programme which continues in this vein and
is focused on the key issues of governance, social security,
the off-track MDGs, inequality and vulnerability will be able
to add value to the Government's programmes. Given the quality
of the work currently undertaken by DFID in Vietnam, and the effort
now being put into planning the next steps of the programme, we
are confident that this will be the case.
|
