The Vietnamese Government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed two loan agreements totalling nearly 234 million USD to support reforms to strengthen the country’s competiveness and to help deliver a sustainable urban transport system in Hanoi.

The signed agreements include a 230 million USD policy loan for the Improving Competitiveness Programme, which will support the Economic Management Competitive Credit Programme—a joint development partner budget support program aligned to the national reform priorities of the government.

The programme will support government reforms in six policy areas, including the financial sector, fiscal policy, public sector administration and accountability, state enterprise management, public investment management, and business environment.

The second agreement is for a 4.2 million USD loan for the Strengthening Sustainable Urban Transport for Hanoi Metro Line 3 Project, which has a total investment of 58.95 million USD.

The project will be used to increase the effectiveness and sustainability of another ADB-financed project, the Hanoi Metro Rail System Project (Line 3: Nhon-Ha Noi Station Section), by improving access to stations, and enhan cing connectivity between the line and other modes of public and private transport. The project will also strengthen urban transport policies and regulations.

“Strengthened competitiveness will be critical for Vietnam to derive maximum benefits from a global recovery and the country’s continuing economic integration into the world economy,” Tomoyuki Kimura, Country Director for Vietnam, was quoted as saying in an ADB press release.

“ADB welcomes and fully supports the government's strong commitment to the ongoing economic restructuring and reform agenda which will allow the country to continue to successfully transform itself into a dynamic, competitive, and efficient market economy,” he added.-VNA