Statement

by H.E. Ambassador Bui The Giang

Deputy Permanent Representative of Viet Nam

at the fourth High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development

New York, 23-24 March 2010

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Mr. President,

I am grateful to you for convening this important meeting. I am confident that your judicious guidance and seasoned experience will bring this dialogue to fruition, making a crucial step towards improving our cooperation, coordination and coherence in implementing the Monterrey Consensus and achieving the MDGs. You can stay assured of my Delegation’s full support and cooperation in the discharge of your high responsibilities.

          My Delegation aligns itself with the statement made by the distinguished representative of Yemen on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.

          Mr. President,

As we are gathering here to review status of implementation of the Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration on financing for development, given the positive yet limited achievements made in this regard, it is vital now to enlist greater international efforts to meet the challenges, particularly those caused by the recent global economic and financial crisis whose impacts are still strongly felt everywhere, and to ensure accomplishment of the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs.

Mobilizing more domestic and international resources to promote development of the developing world must be on top of the international community’s development agenda. ODA and FDI are pivotal resources to make progress on the MDGs and secure development growth towards 2015 and beyond. Developed countries, therefore, should redouble their efforts to honor their commitment to development by increasing the level of ODA contribution to 0.7% of their GNIs. Economic environment and capacity-building should also be improved for developing countries to attract and facilitate FDI and private capital flows in general which could, in return, help developing countries develop their technology, industry, infrastructure and productive capacity. As for developing countries, apart from appropriate strategies, national priorities and concrete action plans to maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of foreign investment, effective mechanisms of disbursement, monitoring and evaluation should be established and enforced through increased country ownership, operations and close coordination with donors and the private sector. At the same time, the United Nations and the Bretton Woods Institutions are expected to set up necessary mechanisms to examine closely systemic concepts and map out an inclusive and time-bound process with a view to improving global economic, financial and monetary governance structure, and increasing accountability, equity and transparency.

Promoting trade as an engine for development requires a better international environment, particularly in the context of the recent collapse in world trade. Developing countries should be helped to effectively overcome stumbling blocks in market access, trade financing, pricing and tariff. There is a pressing need to remove all forms of trade protectionism and anti-competitive practices to the disadvantage of developing countries. A fairer and more equitable multilateral trading system must be built. The conclusion of the Doha development round based on flexibity and constructive engagment is, therefore, more urgent than ever before.

Mr. President,

The global economic and financial crisis has left deep imprints on the Vietnamese economy. Last year, FDI inflows were a meager USD 21.5 billion, 70% down YOY; exports were only USD 56.6 billion, 9.7% down YOY; and imports were only USD 68.8 billion, 14.7% down YOY. Viet Nam being a highly open economy, these factors led to the unemployment rate of 2.9%, an increase from 2.38% the year before. The overall situation was worsened by the frequent destructive natural disasters and the outbreak of H1N1 and H5N1. Against such a backdrop, we managed to achieve the economic growth rate of 5.32%, the all-time record high production of 38.9 million tons of rice, and the 6-year record low Consumer Price Index of 6.88%. The national poverty rate went down to 12.3% from 13.4% in 2008.

 These hard-earned achievements are possible thanks to the aggregate efforts. On our part, we have tried our utmost to improve the country’s business and investment climate, foster quality exports and expand domestic markets, while sharpening efficiency of State governance, enhancing investment in human resources, science, technology, and infrastructure, and ensuring environmental protection, thus ably maintaining the macroeconomic stability and a healthy financial system. Equally important, we have benefitted from both the experience and expertise of international institutions and other countries in dealing with the crisis as well as the financial support and assistance from the international community in fulfilling our development goals. In this connection, while appreciative of such assistance, we welcome this high-level dialogue on financing for development and consider this an invaluable opportunity to learn from the lessons in other countries in how to best mobilize and most effectively use financial resources for development and to galvanize efforts to find ways and means to address the common issues facing developing countries related to financing for development. In this spirit, we pledge to work together with other Member States toward successful conclusion of this dialogue, making practical contributions to the preparations for the Summit on MDGs this coming September.

 I thank you, Mr. President.