Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has approved a sustainable urban transport project for Metro Route No. 3 in Hanoi funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Clean Technology Fund (CTF). The project costs $59 million, financed by $53.2 million worth of official development assistance (ODA) from ADB and a $4.2 million loan from CTF, the Thoi Bao Ngan Hang newspaper reported. To be carried out in the 2014-2018 period, the project aims to develop an integrated public transport system in five districts of Hanoi that will enable the effective utilization of the Metro Route No. 3. Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, has spent billions of U.S. dollars on transport development projects over the past years but traffic jams remain serious. Short-sighted transport planning costs Hanoi billions of VND, experts said. (Thoi Bao Ngan Hang – Banking Times Nov 19, Cong An Nhan Dan – People’s Police Nov 19 p1)
