Axel van Trotsenburg, Vice President of the World Bank for East Asia and the Pacific, and World Bank's Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa (Photo: VOV)

(VOVworld) – The World Bank (WB) will step up its partnership with Vietnam and support the country’s development programs. Speaking at a press briefing in Hanoi on Wednesday during his Vietnam visit, Axel van Trotsenburg, Vice President of the World Bank for East Asia and the Pacific, praised Vietnam’s impressive achievements in poverty reduction over the past 2 decades and expressed his pleasure at their cooperation. He said the WB will continue providing preferential funding for Vietnam from its International Development Association but said Vietnam needs closer links with other countries in the region.