The meeting, chaired by the the Ministry of Planning and Investment, drew the participation of representatives from six international agenices, namely the Asian Development Bank (ADB), French Development Agency (AFD), Korea Export-Import Bank (KEXIM), German development bank (KfW), World Bank (WB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and localities in the Delta region.
The Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and 13 localities in the Mekong Delta have proposed 16 projects with a total investment of about 94.328 trillion VND, including about 66.282 trillion VND in foreign loans.
Among the project proposals are a series of coastal road projects with a total length of about 415 km running through Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang, Kien Giang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau provinces with a total investment of nearly 43 trillion VND. In addition, Vinh Long province proposed the Mang Thit river dike project (phase 2), Hau Giang proposed the project of upgrading and expanding National Highway 61C with a length of more than 37 km, Dong Thap proposed the road infrastructure project in the southern area of Tien River, An Giang proposed a project to build a freshwater reservoir system in the Long Xuyen Quadrangle.
At the meeting, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Tran Quoc Phuong said that the Government is developing and preparing to issue a resolution on Mekong DPO projects to mobilise official development assistance (ODA) and foreign concessional loans for the 16 projects.
Phuong requested localities to review, and complete the project proposals to ensure that they meet criteria and related regulations of Vietnam and donors, as well as are in line with the plannings of the Mekong Delta region, localities and the country.
Yoon Ki Sang, deputy head of the Representative Office of KEXIM, said that the bank will finance four out of the 16 Mekong DPO projects, and it agrees with the Ministry of Planning and Investment on accelerating the implementation of the projects.
Meanwhile, Anna Wellenstein, Director for Sustainable Development in East Asia and the Pacific, and Global Director for Environment, Natural Resources, and Blue Economy at the WB, highlighted the importance of the proposed Mekong DPO projects to the region as well as Vietnam.
The WB representative said the WB is willing to support Vietnam and the participating localities to realise their priority commitments./.
Nguyễn Bích Hường source
