WB to loan Vietnam $11 bln over next five years

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has welcomed the World Bank’s (WB) proposed $11 billion in loans for Vietnam over the next five years and promised to use them effectively.

At a meeting with visiting WB Vice President Manuela V. Ferro in Hanoi on Monday, the Vietnamese PM asked the WB to focus the loans on game-changing, large-scale projects, and continue supporting programs and policies to promote sustainable growth, and the green, digital, circular, sharing, and knowledge-based economies.

Chinh suggested focusing on the one-million-hectare high-quality low-emissions paddy project in the Mekong Delta, and critical infrastructure projects that will have broad development impacts and effectively address climate change concerns. They include the Ho Chi Minh City-Can Tho railway, the Hanoi downtown-Hoa Lac metro line, and clean energy projects.

Since 1993, the WB has provided Vietnam with total funding of $25 billion, especially for poverty reduction, heard the meeting.

The PM suggested the two sides adopt new approaches and administration methods to roll out projects. The Vietnamese government has assigned a deputy prime minister to direct and ensure the swift and effective implementation of WB-financed projects, he added.

For her part, Ferro backed Chinh’s suggestions and said she hoped to receive proposals from the Vietnamese government soon. The WB will closely work with Vietnamese agencies to speed up negotiations, and sign and implement projects, she said.

At the meeting, the two sides reviewed existing projects and agreed to develop a new phase of the Vietnam-WB Country Partnership Framework for the 2025-2029 period.

Ferro tipped that the WB President Ajay Banga is eager to visit Vietnam soon.

The WB vice president noted that the bank has shown trust by establishing its regional office for Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia in Hanoi.

Earlier this month, the WB appointed Mariam J. Sherman as its new country director for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.