Director General of OPEC’s Fund for International Development (OFID) Suleiman J. Al-Herbish and Vietnamese Ambassador to Austria Nguyen Thiep signed a loan agreement on April 10 to co-finance Vietnam’s rural roads rehabilitation projects.

The 34.2 million USD loan, OFID’s largest injection of capital since it first provided funding to Vietnam in 1978, will be used to upgrade rural roads in Ninh Binh, Quang Tri and Quang Nam provinces.

As many as 83 kilometres of road will be built or upgraded, significantly improving transport routes to the provinces’ poorer districts.

Al-Herbish said the signing of this agreement and consideration of new loans in August are part of his commitments he gave to the Vietnamese Government during his visit to Vietnam in 2011.

Ambassador Thiep thanked OFID for its support to Vietnam . Its development grants, which are getting larger, contribute to hunger elimination and poverty reduction, as well as infrastructure development in Vietnam .

He expressed his hope that OFID will continue funding Vietnam’s projects, especially those in education, health care and the private sector.-VNA