Director of KfW in Vietnam receives a commemorative medal from MARD

In early August 2024, Mrs. Anette Haller, Director of the German Development Bank (KfW) in Vietnam, will officially end her term of office. During her term of office, she has made many positive contributions to promoting the support of the Federal Republic of Germany for projects in forestry, sustainable management of natural resources, biodiversity conservation, and climate change adaptation in Vietnam.

Specifically, she has promoted and supported the development of new projects, reaching capital commitment agreements with the German government during the intergovernmental negotiations between Vietnam and the Federal Republic of Germany in 2021 and 2023.

In addition, she has promoted and developed agreements to commit EU aid capital, supported negotiations, and reached agreements to sign loan and aid agreements for the project.

Mrs. Anette Haller also supported the management, implementation and completion of projects such as: Project "Protection and Inclusive Management of Forest Ecosystems in Quang Nam, Kon Tum and Gia Lai provinces"; Project "Sustainable Forest Management and Biodiversity as a Measure to Decrease CO2 emissions"; Project "The Carbon and Biodiversity Phase II (CarBi II)"; Project "ASEAN Small Grants Programme for Biodiversity Conservation".

With the above contributions, on July 25, 2024, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development issued Decision No. 2553/QD-BNN-TCCB on awarding the Medal "For the Cause of Agriculture and Rural Development" to Mrs. Anette Haller.

At the ceremony, Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri said that KfW is the agency representing the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in bilateral financial cooperation.

Since 1995, KfW has cooperated closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, funding and cooperating in more than 10 projects in forestry, biodiversity conservation, sustainable forest management, climate change adaptation, marine management, etc.

With a total funding scale of more than EUR 100 million, it is a remarkable achievement, demonstrating the successful cooperation between KfW and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The projects have made an important contribution to the development of the forestry sector, from when Vietnam's forest cover rate was only 28% in 1995 to now it has reached over 42%.

According to Deputy Minister, Mrs. Anette Haller, in her position as senior manager of KfW, Director of KfW in Vietnam from July 2021 to the present, has made many positive contributions to management, building the strategic vision for cooperation projects between KfW and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as promoting support from the Federal Republic of Germany for projects in the fields of forestry, sustainable management of natural resources, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation and disaster prevention in Vietnam.

The leader of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development also emphasized that the "For the Cause of Agriculture and Rural Development" Medal is the most noble award of the Ministry for diplomats and international experts who have made many contributions to the development of Vietnam's agricultural sector.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri also expressed his hope that in her new position, Mrs. Anette Haller will still retain good memories of the country and people of Vietnam, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and continue to make contributions to the increasingly beautiful, practical and effective relationship between the two countries.

For her part, Mrs. Anette Haller expressed her honor and pride in receiving the meaningful commemorative medal from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. After more than 4 years of working, she said she has learned more about the country and people of Vietnam, not only in her role as KfW leader but also as a tourist.

"Vietnam, if not the leading country, is also one of the leading countries in agricultural and forestry development along with environmental protection and biodiversity conservation," Mrs. Anette Haller affirmed.

In the coming time, still working in Southeast Asia but in another country, the KfW leader affirmed that she will continue to monitor and support Vietnam as well as the agricultural sector in general and the forestry sector of Vietnam in particular.

KfW has implemented about 15 projects in Vietnam with a total commitment of about EUR 200 million, which is concrete evidence that the cooperation between the two sides does not stop at dialogue but also includes specific successful projects contributing to protecting natural forest resources in Vietnam.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Quoc Tri highly appreciated the cooperation programs with the German Development Bank in recent times. The results of the cooperation programs have contributed to socio-economic development, environmental resource protection, increased forest cover, and better nature conservation.