Illustrative image (Source: Internet) A World Bank delegation held a working session in the northern province of Thai Nguyen on September 30 with relevant agencies and local authorities to review the implementation of the Northern Mountainous Urban Programme in Thai Nguyen city .
Thai Nguyen is among seven provinces benefitting from the programme, which has a total investment of 300 million USD, 250 million USD of which comes from WB loans.
Madhu Raghunath, an urban expert from the WB, spoke highly of the efforts of Thai Nguyen in implementing the programme.
However, the implementation is still facing several obstacles and difficulties, especially in terms of reciprocal capital and ground clearance, she added.
The WB delegation asked the provincial authorities to help Thai Nguyen City in securing reciprocal capital for the programme and improve bidding work in order to reduce costs of the programme.
Doan Van Tuan, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, pledged to facilitate the implementation of the programme while asking that the WB will ensure the disbursement progress in the next phase of the project.
The Northern Mountainous Urban Programme Project was approved by the Prime Minister in Decision 189/QD-TTg on January 25, 2014.
The project is implemented in the seven mountainous provinces of Thai Nguyen, Bac Kan , Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Dien Bien, Hoa Binh, and Yen Bai, costing 301.8 million USD. Of the amount, 250 million USD was sourced from the World Bank and the remaining capital was funded by local budget.
The project in Thai Nguyen province, worth 80.5 million USD, will be carried out over six years (2015-2020) in Thai Nguyen City and includes upgrades to roads and bridges, nursery school construction, and the establishment of resident resettlement areas.
The project will set the foundation to develop sustainable northern mountainous urban areas as well as strengthening the capacity of local authorities for urban planning and management. In addition, it will become a technical infrastructure model to be applied in other cities./.
