It gives me great pleasure to announce two new Australian funding initiatives to support economic growth and poverty reduction in Vietnam.
Australia will provide $10 million in 2006-07 to the World Bank's Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSC) program. This funding will support Vietnam's economic growth and poverty reduction by assisting its transition to a market economy and modernising governance and public administration.
Australia will also be supporting Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by providing $2 million to assist Vietnam develop its WTO implementation action plan and advance its economic integration agenda.
Vietnam is our fourth largest development partner and a major recipient of Australian scholarships, with 150 Vietnamese students awarded Australian Development Scholarships each year to undertake postgraduate study in Australia.
These new Australian contributions will advance further our efforts to support Vietnam's economic reforms, which have seen the proportion of the population living in poverty fall by more than two-thirds over the past two decades.