The first credit worth 50 million USD, one of three expected over the next three years, comes from the International Development Association, a lending arm of the WB.

Known as “Programme 135 Phase 2”, the programme aims to support socio-economic development in around 1,644 of the country’s poorest communes and 2,500 poorest villages.

The second credit worth 106 million USD will fund rural transport projects for 33 of Viet Nam's northern and central provinces .

The project is co-financed by the UK Department for International Development, which will provide 25.4 million USD for road maintenance.

The WB’s figures showed that Viet Nam has been one of the best performing economies in the world over the last decade with a year-on-year GDP growth rate of 7.3 percent per year during the period between 1995-2005.

According to the Viet Nam Household Living Standard Survey, the percentage of people living in poverty has fallen from 58.1 percent in 1993 to 19.5 percent in 2004