Vietnam has hailed a UN report that ranks the nation 109th out of 177 countries in human development, higher than that of many more affluent countries throughout the world.
The United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) made available its 16th Annual Human Development Report entitled "Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis" in Hanoi on November 10.
"The fact that Vietnam is repeatedly cited in the report as a successful example of human development has strongly encouraged us to make even more efforts to improve our people's quality of life," Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat said at the launching of the 2006 report.
In this year's report, Vietnam's human development index (HDI) for 2004 was 0.709, superior to that of Algeria, Egypt, South Africa and Guatemala, despite the fact that income per capita in purchasing power parity terms is lower in Vietnam than in these countries.
"This reflects Vietnam's impressive performance in life expectancy and education," said UN Resident Coordinator in Hanoi John Hendra at the ceremony, adding that "adult literacy is particularly high in Vietnam in view of the country's current level of income."
According to the UN official, Vietnam has made exceptionally rapid progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets and the country today " stands at the threshold of a new era of opportunity and development."
"The Socio-Economic Development Plan launched this year represents a huge step forward towards middle income country status and better living conditions for all Vietnamese people," he noted.
In order to ensure further progress towards the MDGs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has developed and submitted to the Prime Minister the second phase of the National Target Programme on Rural Clean Water and Sanitation for 2006-10.
Minister Phat said the objectives of this programme reflect Vietnam's current development and international commitments for achieving 85 percent of the rural population having access to safe water and 70 percent of rural households having access to hygienic latrines.
The Minister expressed hope that the international community will continue to support Vietnam's efforts by providing financial and technical assistance and support towards human resource development and institutional capacity building.
