The World Bank (WB) will provide Vietnam loans worth $973 million to carry out three projects, covering highway, urban development and poverty reduction, state media reported on Jan 13. An agreement and related legal documents to the three projects were signed by State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Van Binh and WB Country Director in Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa on Jan 12 in Hanoi. Under the agreements, WB will provide $613 million to build a highway from Danang to Quang Ngai in the central region and build constitutional capacity of highway development for the Ministry of Transport. WB will also provide $210 million to Vietnam to carry out a project to develop medium-scale urban areas in northern cities of Lao Cai and Phu Ly and central city of Vinh following a sustainable trend. The bank will give $150 million to the poverty reduction support credit program 10 (PRSC 10), bringing total capital from WB for 10 poverty reduction programs to $1.625 billion. The WB’s Board of Executive Directors has approved the first three operations under Vietnam Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for the 2012-2016, delivering commitment to support its transition to a successful middle income country. Accordingly, the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessional arm, will allocate about $4.2 billion to support Vietnam during the new CPS period. (dvt.vn Jan 13, Tuoi Tre - Youth Jan 13 p3, Thoi bao Ngan hang - Banking Times Jan 13 p2, vietnamplus.vn Jan 12)
