The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance and the French Development Agency (AFD) on May 5 inked a credit agreement worth EUR20 million for development projects in Ho Chi Minh City. The program, partially financed by AFD through Ho Chi Minh Finance and Investment Co. (HFIC) will used to build social housing and educational institutions and improve capacity and care of hospitals, and modernize of waste collection and management. The total cost of the program is estimated to EUR96 million. The AFD’s loan to the Vietnamese government covers about 20% of the costs. Co-financing is provided by public or private structures. In 2006, AFD was the first investor to support HFIC, granting an initial credit line of EUR30 million. This facility was designed for social housing, with 10,000 people benefiting from new, quality housing, education, health and environment projects. In addition, AFD granted a non-refundable aid of EUR1.5 million to raise management capacity of the HFIC. With this new finance agreement, the total accumulated net commitments of AFD for public official development assistance (ODA) in Vietnam will amount to about EUR1.05 billion. (Tuoi tre – Youth May 6 p17, news.gov.vn May 5)
