The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has pledged to assist Vietnam’s central city of Danang in developing public-private partnership (PPP) projects, said Oyama Tomohide, JICA official in charge of Private Sector Investment Finance (PSIF). The JICA will give assistance to private companies in the city to improve their capacity and management of PPP projects. Most private companies in the city and Vietnam have little experience in the model, he noted. The agency will negotiate with the Japanese government in providing the Project Development Fund (PDF) or Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for boosting the capacity of the private sector, he said. He said that JICA has been helping Danang complete the pre-feasibility studies (PFS) for the Hoa Lien Water supply plant and Khanh Son waste treatment plant, which are estimated to cost $259 million, this year. Earlier, Danang inked cooperation deals with Singapore’s Temasek for improving the city’s capacity in PPP projects in the 2014-2015 period, said Le Thi Phuong Lien, from the municipal Department of Planning and Investment. Danang has 16 potential PPP projects relating to environmental sustainability, software parks, hospitals and infrastructure, Ms. Lien noted. (Vietnam News May 31)
