The Asian Development Bank will lend $80 million to upgrade road network in the northern mountainous provinces of Vietnam, the government said on its website. Six provinces, namely Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai and Lao Cai will benefit from this project. The loan will be used to improve about 300km of unpaved and downgraded roads in the six mountainous provinces, where about a third of the people, especially many ethnic minority communities live in poverty. The project, which consists of two phases with $109.6 million for the first phase, is scheduled for completion in 2017. Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has ratified the outcomes of negotiation on a credit agreement and related documents for the project. The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam was entrusted to sign the loan agreement with the ADB. Vietnam has had about 100 projects and programs using capital from ADB with a total capital of nearly $10 billion, of which, signed projects reached about $6 billion over the past 18 years. The Philippines-based lender will arrange loans worth $1.3 billion for the Southeast Asian country in the coming years and speed up the public-private partnership (PPP) model. (news.gov.vn Nov 9, vovnews.vn Nov 9)
