Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has hailed the World Bank (WB) for its assistance in reforming the financial and banking sector in Vietnam, and pledged to hold the sector to international practices and standards.

Meeting WB Country Director Victoria Kwakwa in Hanoi on February 11, the PM asked the WB to evaluate Vietnam’s business climate and help highlight which sectors need further reform and in what areas.

Vietnam is stepping up the equitisation of State-owned enterprises (SOEs) to ensure their relevancy in a market economy and improve their corporate governance and business efficiency, he said, adding that he is hopeful for positive outcomes in this sector in 2015.

The Vietnamese leader thanked the WB for helping the Ministry of Planning and Investment devise a public-private partnership (PPP) decree and promised to ratify the document expeditiously.

He also asked for the WB’s support to the Long Thanh – Dau Giay – Phan Thiet highway project, as it is intended to be a model for other PPP deals.

Both underscored the need to take a multi-sector approach to mitigating the harmful effects of climate change.

The Vietnamese government has a strategic master plan for climate change and recently partnered with the Dutch government to design a plan to cope with rising sea levels for the Mekong Delta, the host said.

Valuing the 300 million USD in aid provided by the WB to Vietnam for climate change mitigation, Dung articulated his hope that the lender will continue providing assistance to Vietnam in planting protective coastal forests.

Kwakwa said Vietnam has done an impressive job in streamlining administrative procedures, especially those related to taxation and social insurance.

She believes more breakthrough reforms are on the way, and pledged that the WB will stand with Vietnam as it improves its macro-economic policies.

The WB asked for more concrete information regarding the financial sector from the State Bank to craft an action plan tackling any existing obstacles.

VNA