OPEC’s Fund for International Development (OFID) will provide a $34.2 million loan, the largest sum since it first provided funding to Vietnam in 1978, to help Vietnam upgrade rural roads. The agreement was signed by Director General of OPEC’s Fund for International Development (OFID) Suleiman J. Al-Herbish and Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Nguyen Thiep in Vienna on April 10. The funding will be used to upgrade 83 kilometers of roads in Ninh Binh, Quang Tri and Quang Nam provinces, significantly improving transport routes to the provinces’ poorer districts. Al-Herbish said that the signing of this agreement and consideration of new loans in August are part of his commitments to the Vietnamese government that he made during his visit to Vietnam in 2011. Ambassador Thiep thanked OFID for its support to Vietnam. Its development grants, which are getting larger, contribute to hunger elimination and poverty reduction as well as infrastructure development in Vietnam. He expressed his hope that OFID will continue funding Vietnam’s projects, especially those in education, health care and the private sector. OFID has provided a total $200 million for Vietnam so far. (vietnamplus.vn Apr 12)
