Vietnam Seeks $53.2M Loans from ADB for Railway Project in Hanoi

The Vietnamese prime minister has proposed the president allow the State Bank of Vietnam to sign two loan agreements worth $53.2 million for the Nhon-Hanoi Station railway in the capital city of Hanoi. Of the sum, $49 million is expected to come from the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and $4.2 million from the Asian Development Fund (ADF), the state-run Dau Tu newspaper reported. The pilot metro line will stretch 12.5 kilometers to link Nhon and Hanoi Station. This metro line will be comprised of 8.5 kilometers of elevated railway and a four-kilometer underground section. The project had an estimated investment of EUR783 million in 2008 with EUR293 million sourced from the ADB, EUR250 million in official development assistance (ODA) from the French government, EUR110 million in ODA from the French Agency for Development, EUR73 million in ODA from the European Investment Bank (EIB). However, the cost of the Nhon-Hanoi station railway rose to EUR1.17 billion from EUR783 million and the project is three years behind schedule. France has pledged to provide an additional EUR85 million from its Emerging Markets Reserve (RPE) for Hanoi’s pilot urban railway line 3, according to the French Embassy in Vietnam. (Dau Tu – Investment Jan 7 p2)