Construction workers at the metro line 1 running from Ben Thanh market to Suoi Tien park in HCM City (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Chief Representative of the Japan InternationalCooperation Agency (JICA) Vietnam Office Tetsuo Konaka has urged the Governmentof Vietnam to continue scrutinizing the process of allocating funds for officialdevelopment assistance (ODA) projects.
Konaka made the request at an annual press conference of JICA in Hanoion May 10 given the late payment of some ODA-funded projects, including theurban railway line No.1 in the southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City withslow disbursement of ODA loans worth up to 270 million JPY (2.4 million USD)estimated at the end of March 2018.
The JICA official pointed out the cause of the problem, which lies inthe government’s policy of increasing public debt control at a higher level.
In a Resolution adopted in 2012, the Vietnamese National Assembly decidedto keep the public debt ceiling at 65 percent of the country’s gross domesticproduct (GDP).
Since 2015, the Vietnamese Government has set a maximum loan limitwithin one year for ODA projects under the Law on State Budget.
Konaka said Japan along with other sponsors have had high-level talkswith the Vietnamese Government, bringing remarkable improvements in the budgetallocation for the fiscal year 2018.
However, the Japanese Government still wants Vietnam to allocate more fundsfor underfinanced projects such as the urban railway line No.1 in HCM City orothers managed by the Ministry of Transport, he said.
The official also asked the Vietnamese Government to simplify proceduresto ensure the smooth and effective implementation of ODA projects funded byJapan.
As one of the biggest development partners of Vietnam, JICA willcontinue supporting the country’s efforts at a higher level and hopes todiscuss some issues such as building a list of high-priority projects, implementingprojects effectively, and promoting domestic and foreign investment in differentspheres, he said.
JICA wants to offer assistance for Vietnam in both hard and softinfrastructure development including human resources training and businessmanagement improvement, he affirmed.
Vietnam and JICA signed three agreements with ODA loans totaling at 61.8billion JPY (some 563.6 million USD) for the fiscal year 2017. The totaldisbursement was 105.4 billion JPY (961.2 million USD).
JICA has focused on carrying out development cooperation programmes onthree pillars, which has been promoting economic growth and increasinginternational competitiveness, supporting vulnerable groups and strengtheningState administration.-VNA
