Sir, – President Michael D Higgins’s state visit to Vietnam provides us with an ideal opportunity to reflect on the potential that lies within our aid programme.
As Mr Higgins and Minister for Foreign Affairs Charles Flanagan meet their counterparts in Vietnam this week, much of the discussion will be around the opportunities to expand the trade relations between Ireland and Vietnam.
Ireland’s food exports to Vietnam were worth €36 million in 2015 alone, and there is much potential for further growth.
Funding provided by Irish Aid has allowed the relationship between Ireland and Vietnam to flourish, and it has helped to create the environment in Vietnam that ensures it can trade with us.
Irish Aid programmes have trained Vietnamese workers, provided funding to support students to study in Ireland, enabled Vietnamese universities to partner with Irish higher-education institutions, and funded the development of new child-centred teaching methods that will ensure the next generation of Vietnamese workers have the necessary skills to meet the requirements of international trade and commerce.
Money provided by our aid programme has been used to train health inspectors monitoring the safety and marketing of agricultural products, to strengthen compliance with minimum labour standards in Vietnam, and to support organisations that are fighting corruption.
Further programmes have funded the de-mining of land, which has opened up new areas for agricultural use and supported vital climate-change adaptation to protect vulnerable infrastructure.
Dóchas members, including Oxfam, Plan and World Vision, are also working in Vietnam to ensure that the people who need it most, such as the ethnic communities in the north of the country, also share in the benefits of this growth and transition. Without this investment, Vietnam would not have the workers, the laws or the conditions that allows it to trade with us.
Our investment in overseas development assistance is not simply an investment in Vietnam’s future, it also creates the trading partners of our future.
The Government must announce a multiannual plan, outlining how and when it intends to meet our commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of Ireland’s gross national income on overseas development aid, as a matter of urgency. It is vital for the future of countries like Vietnam, but also for Ireland’s continued economic success. – Yours,
SUZANNE KEATINGE,
Chief Executive,
Dóchas,
Olympic House,
Pleasants Street,
Dublin 8.