He was speaking at a national conference on sustainable development, which draw the participation of more than 400 representatives of authorities at different levels, branches, scientific agencies, diplomatic missions, and international organisations.

Evans emphasised Viet Nam's efforts, which he said were reflected in the discussions at the recent 10th Party Congress and the establishment of the Council for Sustainable National Development with Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung as Chairman.

The UNDP representative reiterated UNDP's commitment to continue supporting Viet Nam in implementing the sustainable development programme, helping Viet Nam build policies on sustainable development and playing the role of a catalyst to find sources of aid for Viet Nam to carry out the sustainable development programme.

Addressing the conference, Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc said that sustainable development is an important strategic goal that the Vietnamese Party, Government and people are determined to implement. To date, Viet Nam has finished the construction and began to implement the national-level Agenda 21.

Minister Phuc expressed his hope of gaining more cooperation from international communities far and wide as well as technical and financial assistance from donors worldwide.

At the meeting, the Vietnamese minister also called for foreign investors to funnel more investment into Viet Nam for sustainability-oriented socio-economic development and environmental protection projects and programmes.

Agenda 21, also known as Strategic Orientations for Sustainable Development in Viet Nam, was approved by the Prime Minister in August 2004. One year later, a council overseeing the implementation of the Agenda was established.

Over the past five years, Viet Nam has given priority to the combination of economic growth with promotion of a just and progressive society, increasing the human development index and protecting the environment.

Sustainable development has been incorporated by the Government in all of its plans of action in the course of national development, helping the country maintain a high average annual growth rate of 7.5 percent over the past five years.

Thanks to practical assistance from such international organisations as the UNDP, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), localities and sectors have developed their own programmes to execute Agenda 21.

The conference noted examples of combining plantation and animal breeding with forest protection, or promoting sustainable agriculture, the breeding of clean shrimp, the harmonious development of traditional handicraft villages and the preservation of cultural values.

The average cost of living for a Vietnamese person has risen 6.4 percent per year recently while GDP per capita has spiraled remarkably from 329 USD in 1996 to 640 USD in 2005.

Viet Nam has accomplished development and poverty reduction targets ahead of schedule, with the rate of poor households plunging from 58.1 percent in 1993 to 7 percent today (according to former poverty line).

By integrating the goal of environmental sustainability in numerous national programmes, the country has increased its forest coverage to 37.4 percent in 2005 from 27.2 percent in 1990.

The proportion of rural people with access to clean water soared to 62 percent in 2005 from 18 percent in 1993.

The country has thus far built a solid legal system coupled with mechanisms and policies relating to the management and usage of natural resources and environmental protection.

Source: VNAgency