Vietnam President Asked to Adopt $200M Loan Deal for Water, Wastewater Project

The Vietnamese prime minister has proposed the president to approve a $200-million loan agreement with the World Bank (WB) for an urban water supply and wastewater project. Earlier, State Bank of Vietnam’s governor Nguyen Van Giau and WB Country Director in Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa signed the loan agreement and legal documents for the project. The project is aimed to upgrade water supply and wastewater treatment systems in 11 provinces of Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam, Quang Ninh, Ninh Binh, Lam Dong, Quang Tri, Dak Lak, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc and Kien Giang. The president has also been proposed to adopt another $160-million loan agreement with the WB for a water resources management project in the Mekong Delta region, aiming to protect and boost the use of water resources for agriculture production, supply clean water and contribute to tackling climate change. The global bank, which is among the biggest donors for Vietnam, has pledged around $2.6 billion in official development assistance for Vietnam this year and also announced to finance over $6 billion for the country in the 2011-2013 fiscal years. (dvt.vn Aug 30)