At the working session between the Hanoi People's Committee and a delegation from the National Assembly Standing Committee (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi is striving tomake efficient use of foreign loans, including official development assistance(ODA), to fuel socio-economic development, especially the building of asynchronous transport infrastructure network.
Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee NguyenDuc Chung made the statement at a working session with a delegation from theNational Assembly Standing Committee led by Chairman of the NA Committee forFinance and Budget Nguyen Duc Hai on August 2.
The event featured discussions on the city’simplementation of policies and regulations on the management and use of ODA in2011-2016.
In the period, Hanoi carried out 14 programmesand projects using foreign loans totalling nearly 69 trillion VND (2.9 billionUSD), including about 43 trillion VND (1.8 billion USD) in ODA.
The city has disbursed approximately 11.6trillion VND (496.9 million USD), 27 percent of the total ODA, according toVice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Doan Toan.
Most of the ODA loans were used to build keysocio-economic infrastructure such as urban transport system, environment,water supply and drainage, he said.
He referred to the urban transport developmentproject funded by the World Bank, which put into use the second ring road ofNhat Tan – Cau Giay segment and a bus rapid transit system from Kim Ma road toYen Nghia bus station in 2016, helping reduce travel time to Noi Bai InternationalAirport.
However, the implementation of ODA projects,especially large-scale urban railway ones, is often slow due to land clearanceissues and shortcomings in the national institutional framework on themanagement and use of ODA.
To make effective use of foreign loans, includingODA, the municipal People’s Committee suggested the Ministry of Planning and Investment,Ministry of Finance and State Bank of Vietnam speed up the addressing ofprocedures relating to capital withdrawal, signing of loan agreements andadjustment and extension of loan agreements.
The city recommended ministries and departments workto increase the role of Vietnam in negotiating and receiving ODA loans toharmonise the conditions of separate sponsors and the country’s legal regulations.
It asked the Ministry of Planning and Investmentto work with government agencies and sponsors to complete procedures onbuilding annual ODA disbursement plans.
The city also proposed the NA consider adjustingand supplementing plans providing middle-term capital for ODA projects.-VNA
VNA
