Foreign NGOs Operate Effectively in Vietnam

Foreign non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have made a growing presence in Viet Nam with increases in number and the value of their aid over recent years, said an official of the People's Aid Coordination Committee (PACCOM).

PACCOM Deputy Head Don Tuan Phong told a Vietnam News Agency reporter that the committee has so far granted 574 licences for foreign NGOs in the country to open representative offices, project offices and operate .

The two latest licences were given in mid-March to the US-based Orbis International specialising in eye treatment and the Viet Nam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF).
Viet Nam has established relationship with around 650 foreign NGOs, more than 500 of which are conducting regular activities in the country with long-term commitments, said PACCOM. In 2006, these NGOs funded and helped carry out 2,700 aid projects in the country with a disbursement value of more than 216 million USD, a year-on-year rise of 20 percent. Their aid focused on the medical sector, education, the settlement of social issues and economic development in war-devastated regions as well as in rural, remote and mountainous areas inhabited by ethnic people.

Phong said the humanitarian development aid has contributed to not only building the friendship between the Vietnamese people and other nations worldwide but also eliminating hunger, reducing poverty and improving living conditions of people in beneficiary areas.

The Prime Minister has issued a national programme on mobilising foreign NGOs' aid in the 2006-2010 period. The programme is aimed at effectively utilising this resource in accordance with the country's plan for socio-economic development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction as well as with each sector and locality's development priority.