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ADB assists transport, agriculture in Vietnam
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide 1.1 billion USD in loans to help Vietnam upgrade the Noi Bai-Lao Cai section of the Kunming-Hai Phong transport corridor.
An agreement on the biggest single project financing in the history of the ADB was signed in Hanoi on Sept. 26 between the bank and the Vietnamese government.
The 244-km highway is an integral section of the eastern link of the Great Mekong Subregion (GMS) Northern Economic Corridor, which connects Kunming city in China ’s Yunnan province with Hanoi and the ports of Hai Phong and Cai Lan in Vietnam . It will help reduce the volume of traffic passing through the cities and towns along the road, which could significantly reduce the number of traffic accidents.
Addressing the signing ceremony, the Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Van Giau stressed that the highway, which is expected to be completed in 2012, will help reduce travel time between Hanoi and Lao Cai from eight hours to just three hours, accelerating trade and transport between Kunming and Hai Phong port, as well as improving socio-economic development in northern mountainous provinces and narrowing development gaps among regions in the country.
In addition, the ADB will also provide 95 million USD to help Vietnam implement a project improving farm produce quality and developing biogas production, according to Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Bui Ba Bong.
At a seminar on the project, held in Hanoi on September 26, Bong said Vietnam will contribute 14.8 million USD to the 2009-2013 project, which will be established in 16 cities and provinces producing fruit, vegetables and tea.
An estimated 3.6 million local households will benefit from the effects of the project, helping to reduce the poverty rate in projected regions to 10 percent in 2013, down from the current rate of 19 percent.
VNA
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