The World Bank (WB) has agreed to provide 69.9 million USD to upgrade the urban area in the southern city of Can Tho , according to local authorities.

The money, which is in the form of Official Development Assistance (ODA) with a grace period of five years and a yearly interest rate of 2.5 percent, will be injected into the Can Tho Urban Upgrading Project.

The Vietnamese Government will earmark 20.4 million USD to the project.

The project covers the upgrading of local infrastructure including roads, water supply and drainage systems, lighting systems, environment and hygiene equipment and other facilities.

It will be implemented in two phases, the first is from 2012 to 2014 with the disbursement of 30 percent of the loan and the second from 2015 to 2017.

There will be more than 524,000 direct and indirect beneficiaries upon the completion of the project.

The Can Tho project is part of a larger one on upgrading six urban areas in the country’s Mekong Delta with an aim of reducing poverty by improving living conditions of the local communities./.VNA