JICA plans to fund over 225.4 million USD for Can Tho’s transport project

The 8.78 trillion (362 million USD) Mekong DPO project, funded by JICA, includes upgrading and expanding National Highway 61C's section running through Can Tho, and constructing a road connecting O Mon and Thoi Lai districts of Can Tho to Giong Rieng district of Kien Giang province.

Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Fukuda Chihiro speaks at the working session. (Photo: VNA)
Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Fukuda Chihiro speaks at the working session. (Photo: VNA)

Can Tho (VNA) – Representatives of the Can Tho city People’s Committee had a working session with a delegation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on February 13 to discuss a project on developing transport network in adaptation to climate change in the Mekong Delta locality.

The Mekong DPO project includes upgrading and expanding National Highway 61C's section running through Can Tho, and constructing a road connecting O Mon and Thoi Lai districts of Can Tho to Giong Rieng district of Kien Giang province. It has an estimated total investment of over 8.78 trillion (362 million USD), with JICA's official development assistance (ODA) loans covering more than 5.73 trillion VND (225.45 million USD).

As scheduled, the project investment plan will be prepared, submitted, and approved in the second quarter of 2025. Its feasibility study will be completed in the last quarter of this year.

The government is expected to sign an agreement on ODA funding in the second quarter of 2026. The project’s construction is scheduled to begin in 2027 and be completed by 2030.

According to Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Fukuda Chihiro, JICA has supported many Mekong Delta localities, including Can Tho, in developing infrastructure projects in recent years.

The agency is ready to conduct a survey in preparation for the Mekong DPO project to support Can Tho in the next steps, he stated, adding that in its upcoming survey, the agency will update environmental and social information to meet JICA’s criteria.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Ngoc He said Can Tho has worked with Kien Giang and Dong Thap provinces to complete procedural requirements for the project.

Once the project proposal is approved by the Prime Minister, the municipal People’s Committee will proceed with preparing and submitting the investment policy for approval; negotiating loan agreements, and implementing the project during the 2026-2030 period, He said.

He expressed his hope that JICA would continue supporting the project's implementation, particularly in appraising loans for the project under JICA’s authority and in negotiating loan agreements with central ministries and agencies to facilitate the execution./.

VNA

See more

At a fund raising event for the substandard housing elimination drive held in Da Nang in January 2025. (Photo: VNA)

Da Nang to replace 1,140 dilapidated houses by May 2025

The total budget for the project to eliminate temporary and dilapidated housing in Da Nang this year is estimated at 47.4 billion VND (1.85 billion USD). Of this, 30.3 billion VND will be sourced from the state budget, while the remainder from the for the poor fund and other fundraising efforts.

Blood donors at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion. (Photo: VNA)

Nearly 9,000 blood units collected at red spring festival

First launched in 2008 to address post-Tet blood shortages, the festival expanded nationwide in 2010 under the direction of the National Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation Campaign. Over 17 editions, the festival has attracted hundreds of thousands of donors across the nation, with the Hanoi event – hosted by the institute – collecting nearly 120,000 blood units.

At the 2023 New Year meeting (Photo: VNA)

Vietnamese, Chinese localities promote exchanges

The New Year meeting, which was first held in 2016, and the Joint Working Committee’s meeting, initiated from 2008, have proved efficiency, leading to significant common understandings regarding exchanges and cooperation among the parties.

Shah Alam (first left) President of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), presents flowers to Ambassador Nguyen Manh Cuong at the Homeland Spring programme in Dhaka (Photo: VNA)

Homeland Spring held for OVs in Bangladesh

The Vietnamese Embassy in Bangladesh hosted the “Xuan Que Huong” (Homeland Spring) programme in Dhaka on February 14, creating a warm and festive Tet atmosphere for the Vietnamese community in the South Asian nation.