World Bank Pledges to Lend Vietnam $250M to Upgrade North Urban Areas

The World Bank (WB) has pledged to provide a loan of $250 million for Vietnam to carry out the urban development project in northern mountainous provinces in the 2012-2014 period. The commitment was made at a meeting on June 25 between representatives of Vietnam and the World Bank presided by Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai. The project which will cover provinces of Thai Nguyen, Bac Kan, Cao Bang and Dien Bien is among projects on modernizing infrastructure system in Vietnam’s urban areas which WB has pledged to finance in line with Vietnam’s National Urban Upgrading Program (NUUP) by 2020. Addressing the meeting with the attendance of WB Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa, the Deputy PM urged related ministries and localities to make well-prepared procedures for project consultancy to ensure the schedule of the project. The WB has announced roughly $6 billion in official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam in the 2011-2013 fiscal years. (Chinhphu.vn June 25)