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AFD finances EUR 22.8 million for rural infrastructure investment project in Lao Cai
The French Development Agency (AFD) has financed a total of EUR 22.8 million (US$37 million) for a rural infrastructure investment project in the northern mountainous border province of Lao Cai. This includes a loan of EUR 22 million and a grant of EUR 800,000.
The two financing agreements were signed today in Hanoi by Hervé Bolot, French Ambassador in Vietnam, Nguyen Thi Hong Yen, Deputy Director of the External Finance Department (Ministry of Finance) and Yann Martres, AFD Acting Director in Hanoi.
The project is part of a comprehensive support programme of infrastructures and eco-tourism development in favour of Lao Cai province. It aims to reduce the level of poverty and deprivation in the rural area and to promote a durable living conditions improvement in the mountainous districts of Lao Cai province and their natural environment. The support programme is co-financed by the Vietnamese Government, the AFD and the French Global Environment Fund (FGEF), with a total amount of EUR 27.68 million.
Specifically, the project will provide funds for developing rural infrastructures in three districts, Sa Pa, Bac Ha and Si Ma Cai (upgrade of 305 km of rural road); Sapa town infrastructures development including wastewater treatment, water supply, drainage, public lighting and urban roads (13 km); Lao Cai waste treatment facility; and regarding Hoang Lien National Park: ecotourism development and institutional capacity strengthening.
The EUR 800,000 grant is aimed to strengthen capacity to effectively carry out activities of the project and ensure sustainability of the project's achievements.
Addressing the singing ceremony, Deputy Minister of Finance Pham Sy Danh thanked the French government and ADF in supporting Vietnam's socio-economic development through loans and grants. According to Mr Danh, ADF has been in Vietnam for 14 years and the agency's total committed capital has reached some EUR 870 million.
French Ambassador in Vietnam Hervé Bolot said he hoped that there would be more France-financed agreements to be signed in the coming time to help develop Vietnam's rural infrastructural facilities.
ND
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