France’s Agence Française de Développement (AFD) signed a deal with Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance on Feb 6 to fund EUR75 million ($101.3 million) for a high-voltage power transmission project in the Southeast Asian country.The signing ceremony, witnessed by French Ambassador to Vietnam Jean-Noël Poirier, aims to fund the two-component project Pleiku-My Phuoc-Cau Bong. The first component is a 500-kV line with the length of 437 kilometer going through six cities and provinces in the Central Highlands and the south, while the second one will cover two 220-kV lines connecting Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong delta province of Long An.Costing total $444.4 million, this project receives funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the AFD and the partly-privatized Vietnam JS Bank for Industry and Trade (CTG) or Vietinbank, the Tien Phong newspaper reported Thursday.Once completed, the project will boost transmission capacity to improve the power supply from hydropower plants in the central region and Central Highlands as well as the electricity imported from Laos and Cambodia to transmit to southern localities.Since 2000, the AFD has funded nearly EUR210 million to support projects on power generation, transmission and distribution in Vietnam. (Tien Phong – Pioneer Feb 7 p6, Lao Dong – Labor Feb 7)
