The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the World Bank (WB) on June 27 co-organised a seminar in Hanoi on how to select and prioritise key infrastructure projects in the country.

Addressing the gathering, MPI Vice Minister Nguyen Van Trung said Vietnam wants to continue receiving assistance from the WB, the country’s key bilateral partner and donor, in infrastructure with a focus on urban development.

Cledan Mandri Perrott, leading financial specialist at the WB, recommended that at the very start of setting up a feasibility study, it should select those studies which are suitable to the Government’s socio-economic development plans.

Under Vietnam’s 2011-2015 socio-economic development plan, there are 11 priorities, he said, adding that six should be of key focus, including economic restructuring, the development of economic industries and industrial sectors, development of culture, social equality and social welfare, environmental protection and fighting natural disasters and climate change, regional and urban sustainable development, and the mobilisation and efficient use of resources for building modern infrastructure.

According to participants, when assessing feasibility studies, relevant agencies should focus on the economic impacts of projects, such as how they generate growth for sectors, maintain trade and create jobs, as well as the sustainability of the projects and their effects on other investments.

Social and environmental effects should also be valued, they added.-VNA