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On the morning of 05/6/2012, themid-term meeting of Consultative Group for Vietnam in 2012 (mid-term CG)opened in Dong Ha city, Quang Tri province. Themeeting was to discuss about poverty reduction and natural disaster mitigation.

The event was attended by theDeputy Minister Hoang Trung Hai, representatives of many ministries and sectorsand leaders of 14 northern and coastal central provinces from Thanh Hoa to Binh Thuan. The Ministerof Planning and Investment, Mr Bui Quang Vinh and the World Bank’s CountryDirector in Vietnam,Ms Victoria Kwakwa co-chaired the meeting.

Binh Dinh Provincedelegation was led by Vice Chairwoman, Ms Tran Thi Thu Ha who delivered an importantspeech.

The meeting heard the openingspeech of the Minister Bui Quang Vinh, Ms Victoria Kwakwa, Mr Nguyen Duc Cuong,Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Tri province. 

Discussion at the meetingwas related to important issues such as: (1) Reviewing the macro-economicsituation of Vietnam 2012 (2)Dialogue with the central provinces about poverty reduction and disastermitigation, (3) Consultation on innovative methods of CG meetings. In his opening speech, Minister Bui Quang Vinh emphasized the organization ofmid-term CG Meeting 2012 in Quang Tri, a province in the central region facedwith a great many of challenges in socio-economic development, naturaldisasters and the impacts of climate change, was to show the interest of theGovernment and donors to the area.

Minister Bui Quang Vinhsuggested that donors, ministries, sectors and 14 central provinces focus on discussion anddialogue on poverty reduction and disaster relief for the central region. Thepurpose was to obtain opinions from localities on the application of policies,strategies, measures and guidance on sustainable poverty reduction and disastermitigation.

Another issue on debatewas innovative methods of CG conference. According to Minister Bui Quang Vinh, it was the20th year the Consultative Group Meeting for Vietnamwas held (since the first CG meeting in Parisin 1993). Donors and the Government of Vietnam agreed to discuss innovativemethods of meeting on the basis of 20 years practical experience and inconsistence with Vietnam'sdevelopment situation as well as global partnership and aid effectiveness.

According to recentstudies of the Vietnamese Academy of Social Sciences and the WB, Vietnam has achieved significant progress inpoverty reduction. According tothe standards of the General Statistics Office (GSO) and the WB, the povertyrate fell from 58% (1993) to about 7% (2010). However, concerns and challenges were also raised such as increasing povertyin ethnic minority areas. The minority groups accounted for 47% of the totalpoverty in 2010 while the figure was only 29% in 1998. The gap between rich andpoor is widening. The report also emphasized concerns about increasinginequality in Vietnamthough no official statistics announced yet.