WB Signs $392M Deal to Help Upgrade Urban Areas in Vietnam

The World Bank (WB) has signed a contract to provide $392 million to help upgrade urban areas in six cities in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta region, the Thoi Bao Kinh Te newspaper reported. Under the project, the urban areas comprise Can Tho city, My Tho town in Tien Giang province, Ca Mau town, Cao Lanh town in Dong Thap province, Rach Gia city in Kien Giang and Tra Vinh town. Once operational in 2018, the project is expected to help improve living conditions of 150,097 poor people and indirectly benefit more than 1.8 million. Currently, Vietnam, home to 755 urban areas, has the highest urbanization rate in the Southeast Asia with 34% of population or 37 million living in urban areas from 19% in 1986, the WB’s statistics showed. The country’s urbanization rate varies within 3.4% per year, it said. Urbanization, however, is likely to result in unfairness and problems to suburban regions due to lack of proper management, authorities-backed support to investors but not rural residents, local experts said.
The living quality of suburbanites has somewhat been reduced during urbanization process under pressure of population growth which caused overloaded infrastructure and pollution, said former deputy minister of natural resources Dang Hung Vo. He added that the government’s little care or ignorance of rural areas have led to migration of suburban to big cities, breaking living environment balance and widening rich-poor gap, one of the factors causing social evils. (Thoi Bao Kinh Te - Economic Times Jun 18 p3)