The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the political risk insurance arm of the World Bank (WB), expects to support transport infrastructure development in Vietnam, Vice President Michel Wormser said.Mr. Wormser made the statement during his meeting with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minster Hoang Trung Hai in the capital city of Hanoi on Feb 20.He said MIGA will guarantee the $450 million-$500 million Hanoi-Haiphong expressway and another project worth $250 million to expand National Highway No. 20 in Vietnam.MIGA’s mandate is to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing countries to help support economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people’s lives.It provides political risk insurance guarantees to private sector investors and lenders. MIGA’s guarantees protect investments against-non-commercial risks and can help investors obtain access to funding sources with improved financial terms and conditions.Vietnam considers infrastructure development crucial to advance to a “basically modern-oriented industrial” country by 2020. Since 1993, the WB has provided nearly $14 billion in credit, loans and grants to help Vietnam sustain growth and fight poverty. As Vietnam’s biggest multilateral donor, WB pledged $2 billion in ODA for Vietnam in 2012. (news.gov.vn Feb 20, vietnamplus.vn Feb 20, Tin Tuc - News Feb 21 p3)
