Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the statement while receiving World Economic Forum (WEF) Managing Director Philipp Rosler on the sidelines of the Vietnam Business Summit held in Da Nang city on November 7.

The Government has entrusted ministries and relevant departments to coordinate with the WEF to implement specific cooperative fields, he added. PM Phuc welcomes the WEF to work with Vietnam in organising workshops on improving national competitiveness and developing infrastructure in this November.

Rosler congratulated Vietnam on the successful organisation of the Vietnam Business Summit and expressed his impression on the country’s socio-economic accomplishments. The WEF will enhance coordination with Vietnam to implement joint programmes, including the organisation of the WEF-ASEAN meeting in Vietnam in 2018, he added.

Regarding this matter, the PM asked the WEF to work with Vietnam to select a suitable theme and contents, meeting the interest and common benefits of the business community in ASEAN countries and highlighting the role of Vietnam in the bloc.

He hoped the WEF will help Vietnam introduce her image at the WEF meeting in Switzerland next year, and promote the outcomes of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week 2017 and the WEF-ASEAN meeting 2018 in Vietnam.

At the WEF-ASEAN 2018 in Vietnam, the PM asked WEF to work with Vietnam to select topics and content that would meet the interests of the ASEAN business community, proving role of Vietnam in ASEAN. The PM hoped for a conference to improve and renovate the organizational structure and contents of the meeting to enhance the effectiveness and significance of the conference.

At the WEF Davos conference in Switzerland in the coming year, the PM expressed his hope that WEF would pay close attention to highlighting Vietnam’s image at the summit, supporting Vietnam to promote the results of the APEC Summit 2017 and WEF ASEAN 2018 Conference in Vietnam.

** The same day, at the reception for Victoria Kwakwa, WB Vice President for the East Asia and Pacific Region, on the sidelines of the VBS 2017, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the statement that Vietnam wishes to cooperate with the World Bank (WB) in building institutions in order to enhance the efficiency of attracting private capital to deal with the country’s public debt ceiling set at 65% of gross domestic product (GDP).

He assigned the Government’s Office, the State Bank of Vietnam, in collaboration with relevant ministries and sectors, to work with the WB Vietnam to research and develop institutions with regards to the effective mobilization of private capital.

The PM spoke highly of the WB’s building of a Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for Vietnam for 2017-2022, saying it is an important document shaping the Vietnam-WB cooperation in the next five years, with three focuses of fostering inclusive growth and facilitating the private sector’s engagement, developing human resources, and promoting sustainable environmental protection and climate change adaptation.

He stated that Vietnam has completed negotiation and received all the capital of the 17th replenishment of the International Development Assistance (IDA 17), with about US$3.8 billion in preferential IDA capital. The Government leader thanked the WB and the Vice President for building an appropriate transitional support mechanism for Vietnam in the IDA 18.

Vietnam has a huge demand for infrastructure development, he said, asking the WB to provide advice and to work with other donors, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), to co-finance projects in Vietnam.

For her part, Kwakwa expressed her pleasure to return to Vietnam and continue with the WB’s cooperation activities in the country, stating that she was impressed at Vietnam’s economic growth so far this year as well as the country remaining a destination for foreign investors.

The WB wishes to cooperate with Vietnam in mobilizing resources for development, she said, stating that in addition to facilitating public-private partnership (PPP) projects, the WB also wishes to help the country to build mechanisms to attract more private capital through other methods.