Vietnam

This report provides a complete and comprehensive analysis of industrial wastewater management in industrial estates and craft villages in Vietnam. The analysis was... Show More + conducted in three separate stages: 1) a detailed inventory of industries and industrial activities responsible for the pollution of the Nhue-Day river basin, including industrial zones, industrial clusters, industrial points, craft villages and large-scale stand alone industries. In the Dong Nai river basin, an inventory of the industrial parks is all that exists for now; 2) an institutional and regulatory analysis in the Nhue-Day and Dong Nai river basin provinces; and 3) identification and determination of appropriate interventions for industrial estates and craft villages. Show Less -

This report provides a complete and comprehensive analysis of industrial wastewater management in industrial estates and craft villages in Vietnam. The analysis was... Show More + conducted in three separate stages: 1) a detailed inventory of industries and industrial activities responsible for the pollution of the Nhue-Day river basin, including industrial zones, industrial clusters, industrial points, craft villages and large-scale stand alone industries. In the Dong Nai river basin, an inventory of the industrial parks is all that exists for now; 2) an institutional and regulatory analysis in the Nhue-Day and Dong Nai river basin provinces; and 3) identification and determination of appropriate interventions for industrial estates and craft villages. Show Less -

This report provides a complete and comprehensive analysis of industrial wastewater management in industrial estates and craft villages in Vietnam. The analysis was... Show More + conducted in three separate stages: 1) a detailed inventory of industries and industrial activities responsible for the pollution of the Nhue-Day river basin, including industrial zones, industrial clusters, industrial points, craft villages and large-scale stand alone industries. In the Dong Nai river basin, an inventory of the industrial parks is all that exists for now; 2) an institutional and regulatory analysis in the Nhue-Day and Dong Nai river basin provinces; and 3) identification and determination of appropriate interventions for industrial estates and craft villages. Show Less -

This report provides a complete and comprehensive analysis of industrial wastewater management in industrial estates and craft villages in Vietnam. The analysis was... Show More + conducted in three separate stages: 1) a detailed inventory of industries and industrial activities responsible for the pollution of the Nhue-Day river basin, including industrial zones, industrial clusters, industrial points, craft villages and large-scale stand alone industries. In the Dong Nai river basin, an inventory of the industrial parks is all that exists for now; 2) an institutional and regulatory analysis in the Nhue-Day and Dong Nai river basin provinces; and 3) identification and determination of appropriate interventions for industrial estates and craft villages. Show Less -

The focus of the report, combined with Vietnam's remarkable long-term growth potential, presents a favorable outlook, suggesting the effects of the East Asian crisis... Show More + are over. The country is committed to socially inclusive development, and, translates a vision of transition towards a market economy, with socialist orientation into concrete public actions, emphasizing the transition should be pro-poor, noting this will require investments in the rural, and lagging regions, and a more gradual reform implementation, than often recommended. However, challenges identified include, first, further progress in economic reform - fast progress in liberalizing foreign trade, and integrating with world economy is increasingly at odds with the slowdown of state-owned enterprise reform. Second, poverty alleviation may be endangered - for in the absence of vigorous action, inequality is likely to increase. And, third, improving the quality of governance faces an economic inefficient mismatch, reflected by its legal framework, budgetary system, and administrative structures, resulting from the inherited centrally-planned economy. The report reviews the increasing inequalities, and the need to redress imbalances, indicating that - although needed - economic reforms, trade liberalization, and the transformation of state-owned enterprises, may create losers, while many of the gains of the last decade remain fragile. The Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS) identified key decisions that need to be made, supported by strong inter-ministerial coordination for its implementation, namely rolling out to provincial, district, and commune levels in order to better align priorities, and expenditures to the national development goals, supported by external assistance. Show Less -

Changes in trade policies have been an essential component of the "doi moi" policy implemented by the Government of Vietnam since 1986. Over the years, most export quotas... Show More + have been lifted and export taxes have been reduced to generally low levels. In addition, export activities by the private sector (both domestic and foreign) have been increasingly encouraged, thus breaking the trade monopoly of a small number of state-owned enterprises. These reforms -together with sound macroeconomic management- have led to a rapid export and import growth. The structure of exports also changed. During the 1990s, Vietnam started to exploit its comparative advantage in labor-intensive manufactures. Export growth was led by light manufactures, dominated by the garment and footwear sectors. Also remarkable, despite the shrinking share of agricultural goods in total exports, was the strong rise in the volume of rice exports. In only few years Vietnam turned from being a net rice importer into the world's second largest exporter. The Asian crisis has interrupted Vietnam's trade expansion. In 1998, exports increased by a sluggish 2.1 percent. To avoid an external deficit, the Government imposed additional import restrictions which, together with slumping domestic demand, led to a 0.8% decrease in the value of imports. Of course, this downturn in export performance was not unique to Vietnam. It was observed across Asia. What is surprising, however, is the exceptional magnitude of the recovery in 1999. Table 3 shows that in 1999, Vietnam's exports grew by an impressive 23.4 percent, much faster than in most other Asian countries. While Indonesia is still struggling to recover from the crisis, exports expanded at a quick pace in Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines. None of these countries, however, came close to Vietnam's astonishing rate of export growth. As can be seen in this report, Vietnam's recovery is not exclusively an oil-related phenomenon. Non-oil exports also grew at a fast 16.3 percent. This paper takes a detailed look at the factors that explain this strong export performance in 1999 and asks whether such a high rate of export growth can be sustained in the year 2000 and beyond. The analysis relies on two type of sources: official trade data collected by the General Statistical Office (GSO) and Vietnam Customs, as well as information collected during a visit of 16 companies in the footwear and garment industries in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Bien Hoa and Ho Chi Minh City in May-June 2000. The visit included seven private domestic companies, four private foreign-owned enterprises, and five public enterprises. All these companies were among the largest and fastest growing exporters in 1999. Show Less -

The Bank's reports on poverty and industrialization in Vietnam identified affordable physical access to markets, health, education, and other amenities as central to... Show More + triggering growth in rural areas. The development of interurban and international transport is indispensable for integrating local and regional networks into the national and international grids and is thus crucial for the movement of goods and people domestically and the linkage of domestic with international markets. The key issues confronting the sector are to ensure: a) mobility, avoiding bottlenecks in the efficient provision of transport services, notably in urban areas; b) accessibility and affordability, in particular by establishing year-round access for the rural population to transport networks and markets and providing affordable transport means and services for the urban and rural poor; and c) sustainability, by building robust planning and system management capabilities in the public sector, providing a level playing field for the private sector, and ensuring the timely and proper maintenance of transport assets. This report aims to review Vietnam's progress in developing a modern transport system that creates the environment needed for balanced economic growth; to identify key challenges that remain and to outline solutions where possible or suggest what further work needs to be done. The report also discusses the role the donor community can play in helping Vietnam meet these challenges. Show Less -

Vietnam remains one of the world's poorest countries. The energy sector can, however, provide a foundation for future economic growth, since oil and coal exports account... Show More + for more than a quarter of foreign exchange earnings. However, Vietnam's energy sector faces four main challenges in making the transition to a modern, industrialized society. 1) Energy supplies will need to grow about 30 percent faster than Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These changes require better infrastructure for power, roads, and telecommunications. 2) Vietnam's limited financial resources demand careful planning in the energy sector. Recent discoveries of offshore natural gas provide an opportunity to make economically and environmentally beneficial energy choices. 3) Vietnam will have to invest 5.3-5.5 percent of GDP in essential energy infrastructure. 4) Attracting foreign investment will require creating an enabling business environment including a supportive legal framework. The government must restructure and rationalize state energy enterprises, develop a regulatory system, and coordinate energy policies and investments. The agenda for action in the short and medium term should include steps to a) create an economic and efficient modern energy delivery system to meet growing demand; b) ensure that energy expansion is environmentally sustainable; c) improve corporate governance and create creditworthy institutions; and d) rationalize sector governance. Show Less -

This report concludes that the economic situation is quite serious for Vietnam--threatening to undermine and reverse the progress in poverty reduction that was achieved... Show More + over the past decade. Vietnam can still avoid a worsening situation, but this will require stepped up reform of both policies and programs, and change in the pattern of support from the international community. The report suggests that such reforms need to be guided by three "imperatives": 1) Recognize that investment resources will be less plentiful, at least temporarily, and focus on making each dong, dollar, or yen work harder. 2) Set policies so as to increase resources available to the economy--from both internal and external sources, and especially from the private sector. 3) In view of the lower growth trajectory for the economy, target resources and policies more effectively in favor of the poor, both to protect them from the slowdown and to harness their full productive potential. The first chapter begins by taking stock of the current state of Vietnam's economy. The next chapter assesses the current policy response, noting good progress in some areas, and urging acceleration in others. The third and fourth chapters then apply the same policy analysis to rural and infrastructure development. Finally, the report explores prospects for the future, identifies financial requirements, and makes recommendations on both the quantity and quality of foreign assistance. Show Less -

This report analyzes the present structure of education costs so as to estimate the rise in public expenditure implied by an expansion of the education and training... Show More + (E&T) system. Following chapter 1, which sets the general context for a consideration of E&T costs and financing, chapter 2 explains how the system is presently organized and managed. Chapter 3 provides an assessment of the current financing system, distinguishing first the allocations in the central and provincial components of the state budget and then looks at off-budget sources of public finance and private funding. Chapter 4 combines the information on enrollment and fund flows from public and private sources to calculate unit costs in Vietnamese E&T. Chapter 5 turns to the issues of external efficiency and equity. Finally, in Chapter 6, the perspective shifts to the future and draws lessons from other countries. Show Less -