The World Bank (WB) will provide Vietnam with 620.4 million USD for five projects on healthcare services, transport, environment, poverty reduction, and energy in the country.

An agreement to this effect was signed between the WB and the State Bank of Vietnam in Hanoi on May 31.

The first loan, worth 150 million USD, will be earmarked for a hospital waste treatment project, helping to improve the quality of healthcare services in north-central provinces and contribute to improving the lives and health of the locals, especially the poor and the near-poor.

The second project, at a cost of 175.1 million USD, will assist in developing urban transport in the northern city of Hai Phong, while the third project worth 65.3 million USD will help improve environmental sanitation in a sustainable manner in the central coastal cities of Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa), Quy Nhon (Binh Dinh) and Dong Hoi (Quang Binh).

The fourth loan, worth 50 million USD, will go to the second stage of Programme 135, a Government poverty reduction effort, to provide planning guidance with the participation of community and technical assistance at provincial and district levels.

The final loan, worth 180 million USD, aims to develop an efficient system of electricity transmission and distribution facilities, and contributes to improving managerial capacity of the National Power Transmission Corporation./.