As of November 11, 2021, the Bank has provided US$25.27 billion in grants, credits, and concessional loans to Vietnam through 212 operations. Vietnam's existing portfolio consists of 33 active projects, with total net commitments of US$6.69 billion. In addition, Vietnam benefits from a large and diverse portfolio of Advisory Services and Analytics (ASA), with 27 currently active tasks. Many ASA engagements leverage country-level partnerships and trust funds from development partners.
COVID-19 Response
Since COVID-19 hit Vietnam in early 2020, the World Bank Group has worked with Vietnam on multiple fronts of the national response strategy – from health crisis management to fostering a resilient recovery. Through a grant from the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility, the World Bank helped ramp up testing capacity for 84 laboratories nation-wide, cutting the turnaround time from 24-48 hours to 4-6 hours. Building on global expertise, the Bank issued a series of policy notes on strategies to protect vulnerable groups from the negative impacts of COVID-19 and to stimulate a broad recovery.
Clean Energy
The Trung Son Hydropower Project supported the development of a 260 megawatt, grid-connected hydropower plant in a remote part of central Vietnam. Fully operational since 2017, the plant has supplied one billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually at a unit cost lower than other renewable sources or coal. The hydro plant reduced GHG emissions by approximately one million tons compared to a thermal plant supplying the same volume of electricity.The project increased local access to electricity from 30 percent in 2015 to 97 percent in 2019 – while also contributing to an improved quality of electricity supply in the broader region.
The Vietnam Renewable Energy Development Project supported some of the first large-scale private-sector led deployments of renewable energy into Vietnam’s power mix. The project provided early-stage investment and technical support to build the requisite capacity and incentives among all stakeholders for scaled-up development. In addition, 19 new small hydropower plants were built with a total capacity of 320MW, which supplied an annual volume of 1,260GWh. All these plants followed global best practices on environmental and social risk management, setting new industry benchmarks in Vietnam.
Environment and Natural Resources
Through the Climate Change and Green Growth Development Financing Project, the World Bank made a strong contribution to the climate change and green growth agenda. The project helped improve inter-sectoral coastal planning and mainstream climate change into public investment across key sectors. In addition, policies supported by this program helped promote the uptake of water-efficient irrigation practices and technologies and prompted provinces to establish protection corridors for main water sources. Reforms brought about by this program also contributed to improved energy efficiency of household appliances and increased investment in renewable energy.
The Coastal Resources for Sustainable Development Project introduced tools and practices for better fisheries management to authorities and fishermen along eight coastal provinces. Between 2012 and 2018, the project supported 40 coastal districts and 257 coastal communes to shift from fragmented sectoral planning to integrated spatial planning for co-management of fisheries. The project also assisted 13,000 fishing families in adopting good aquaculture practices with the introduction of new eco-friendly technologies, while helping improve the biosecurity infrastructure in which they operated.
Urban Development
The Mekong Delta Region Urban Upgrading Project turned low-income, low-lying areas into greener urban spaces in six cities of the Mekong Delta Region. The project helped improve the living conditions of about 625,000 direct beneficiaries by upgrading basic infrastructure. An additional two million people indirectly benefited from city-wide infrastructure improvements and new social facilities. The total quantifiable benefits were estimated at approximately US$724 million in terms of savings in healthcare costs, productive time, flood control damage, and increased land value.
Rural Development
The Results-Based Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Under the National Target Program helped address one of the biggest challenges in rural Vietnam by investing in physical infrastructure and improving the legal framework for sustained access to water supply and sanitation services. Between 2013 and 2019, more than one million people had their water supply connected to sustainable water systems, while 400,000 new functioning water supply connections were built. In addition, about 1.4 million people in 203 communes gained access to commune-wide sanitation. Improved sanitary latrines were built in some 142,000 households and 1,500 schools.
Human Capital
Education
Vietnam joined the Human Capital Project in 2019 to improve nutrition and access to quality education and enhance workforce development for a changing economy. The World Bank has supported Vietnam in reforming the educational system at all levels. The School Readiness Promotion Project, for example, helped increase access to full-day preschool to 84 percent of five-year-old children in 2015 from 66 percent in 2011. The quality of preschool instruction improved through the introduction of a child-centered learning approach for 250,000 early childhood education teachers. The Bank also provides strategic advice for Vietnam on how to prepare its workforce for future jobs.
Health
The World Bank supports Vietnam’s efforts to provide quality, afforable health care services for all citizens. In the northern part of Vietnam, 13.7 million people—many of them from remote areas—have better access to quality healthcare. The Northeast and Red River Delta Regions Health System Support Project improved the treatment capacity for 74 public hospitals at the district and provincial levels by investing in upgrading the medical infrastructure and training health workers. Key interventions in cardiology, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, oncology, and trauma are now available at these hospitals, sparing patients the need to seek care at hospitals far from home.
Poverty Reduction
Vietnam has made great strides in reducing poverty and improving quality of life for millions. The World Bank has worked closely with Vietnam to address the last miles in poverty eradication as approximately eight million of Vietnamese people still lived with less than US$3.20 per day in 2018. The Second Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project implemented in six mountainous provinces in the poorest region of Vietnam during 2010-2018, exemplifies this partnership. The project helped raise the living standards of ethnic minorities by improving their access to infrastructure, building capacity among local governments and communities, and promoting market linkages and business innovations. The project, which benefited 192,000 households and resulted in a 16 percent-increase in incomes, provided good lessons for government to revise its poverty reduction policy and approach.
Governance Reforms
Improving the efficiency and integrity of the public sector is a priority for the World Bank in Vietnam. Since 2018, the World Bank has supported Vietnam’s Office of the Government (OOG) in its efforts to build a digital government to enhance the efficiency and transparency of public service delivery. In February 2019, the Bank and OOG conducted a readiness assessment to ascertain the potential for digital government development, leading to the launch of the National Public Services Portal in December and E-Cabinet in June 2019. In August 2020, the Vietnam's Open Budget Portal went live, making budget information for all government levels available for the public in one place.
Last Updated: Nov 18, 2021
