The construction of the 5.35km Mai Dich - Nam Thang Long flyover is funded by Japan's ODA. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – Legal steps for operating ODA projects are simplified to accelerate the disbursement of the soft foreign loans after amendments to nine laws took effect earlier this month, according to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI). Provisions for the implementation of ODA projects set out in the revised Laws on Public Investment, Public Private Partnership (PPP), Investment, Housing, Bidding, Electricity, Enterprises, Special Consumption Tax, and Civil Judgment Enforcement were amended in the way that promotes decentralisation, strengthen inspection and monitoring, and simplify legal steps required for the projects to complete, said Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung.
For example, from now leaders of the governing body of B- and C-class projects using ODA fund or other preferential foreign loans are authorised to grant in-principal approval for the projects to start. Previously, only the Prime Minister had the right to do so.
Similar rules can apply to A-class projects which are large in scale and require big amount of investment if they are proved effective in B- and C-class ones.
ODA providers expect the new provisions will cut time needed for the first disbursement of fund since it gets approval by at least a year.
According to the MPI, the ODA disbursement remains slow in many localities, partly due to lengthy process of granting investment licences and bidding./.
VNA