Since 1993 when Vietnam was selected as a Danish programme country, the overall objective of the cooperation has been to contribute to poverty reduction. The goal is being pursued through support to sustainable development with the private sector as the driving force (support to agriculture and rural development, the fisheries sector, the business sector, environment, climate, and water and sanitation). Meanwhile, Denmark supports a range of activities in the area of good governance and human rights (economic, administrative and judicial reforms, support to human rights centres, and anti-corruption activities). All the business-related instruments such as the Business-to-Business programme, the Innovative Partnership for Development programme, and mixed credits are being applied in Vietnam. And finally, there are comprehensive cultural cooperation and research cooperation programmes between Denmark and Vietnam. Substantial results have been achieved during the many years of development cooperation. To mention a few examples; 500,000 families in rural areas have obtained significantly increased incomes through the support to agriculture, more than 1 million poor people have got access to clean drinking water and sanitation, and the value of the Vietnamese export of fish products has – partly as a result of the Danish support – increased from 0.5 billion USD in 1995 to 4.5 billion USD in 2008. As Vietnam continues to combine high economic growth with marked poverty reduction and now approaches MIC status, the traditional sector programme support will gradually be phased out, while future development cooperation will be concentrated on judicial and administrative reforms, anti-corruption, climate change, business instruments, research cooperation and cultural cooperation. Map of where Danida works in Vietnam
