According to WB Country Director Victoria Kwakwa, the new CPS had taken into account Viet Nam's new phase of development as it moved to a middle-income status.
The bank would operate in Viet Nam with a more "strategic focus" and become more selective in choosing areas of support, she said, including phasing out programs in areas that have achieved considerable results in the past such as rural electricity.
Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh applauded the launch, saying that Viet Nam was committed to increasing the value-added in aid effectiveness in line with its Socio-Economic Development Strategy 2011-2020.
Myla Taylor Williams, one of the team leaders, said the new CPS was built on three pillars – competitiveness, sustainability, and opportunity – and would transform how the bank engaged with the Government.
The strategy outlined the need to ensure that projects are completely ready when approved, address systemic ODA implementation issues, call for clearer exist strategies and to make sure that "funds are disbursed on results-based rather than statement of expenditures."
For the new CPS period, the indicative allocation from the World Bank's concessional arm, the International Development Association, to support Viet Nam is about US$4.2 billion.