Concerted efforts needed to optimise ODA use

Using official development assistance (ODA) capital as effectively as possible is a major task that requires utmost efforts of each ministry, sector and locality, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said on August 12.

Hai, who is also head of the National Steering Committee for ODA and preferential loans, cited the fact that as it will be more difficult for Vietnam to attract ODA and concessional loans as the country became a middle-income one.

The committee’s standing agency pointed out that the attraction and disbursement of ODA and concessional loans fell short of expectations despite continuous endeavours.

ODA and preferential loans committed in the first half of 2015 approximated 1.6 billion USD, including over 1.57 billion USD of ODA and concessional loans and 17 million USD of non-refundable assistance, representing 70.54 percent of the same period last year’s figure.

Some large beneficiary projects are phase II of an environmental hygiene in Ho Chi Minh City (450 million USD funded by the World Bank), the construction of Ben Luc – Long Thanh highway (262.79 million USD funded by Japan), and the promotion of the economy’s competitiveness (230 million USD funded by the Asian Development Bank).

Total ODA and concessional loans disbursed during the January – June period was estimated at 1.91 billion USD, including 1.73 billion USD of ODA loans and 181 million USD of non-refundable ODA. The disbursed sum was 38 percent lower than that in a year before, the standing agency said.

It attributed the sluggish attraction and disbursement to problems in professional standards, changes during project implementation, differences in procedures between Vietnam and its sponsors, and the slow allocation of Vietnam’s responding capital.

Deputy PM Hai told ministries, sectors and localities with the low rate of capital disbursement to make drastic moves to ensure the progress and efficiency of beneficiary projects.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Planning and Investment must make monthly reports on the improvement of project management agencies’ performance and address hindrances to project implementation, he noted.-VNA