The Public Financial Management Reform Program (PFMRP), during 2019–2025, is funded by a CHF3 million grant provided by SECO and administered by the World Bank for Da Nang City.

The program provides advisory and capacity building support in four key areas including Fiscal Strategy, Medium-term Budgeting, Public Service Performance Reporting, and Public Debt Management which were highlighted in the Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability (PEFA) assessment in Da Nang City. This support is expected to build a good basis for broadening and deepening reforms and collaboration in the medium-term.

Da Nang City is an emerging growth pole with a long-term vision to be an international gateway and regional commercial hub, said Ousmane Dione, World Bank Country Director for Viet Nam, adding that but it is facing a host of challenges to deliver vital urban infrastructure and services in a fiscally constrained environment.

These challenges reinforce the need for more efficient resource mobilization, planning and implementation of spending programs within a medium-term framework that ensures long-term fiscal sustainability, and sound management of public debt and fiscal risks.

Viet Nam and its secondary cities have been priority partners for Switzerland’s cooperation support for many years. SECO focuses on effective economic policies and institutions, including public financial management reforms among other areas, said Marcel Reymond, Head of Cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Viet Nam.