The Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank of Industry and Trade (VietinBank) has signed a contract with the Ministry of Finance for an authorised loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to implement the power grid development project in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The signing ceremony took place in Hanoi on May 25 in the presence of Deputy Finance Minister Truong Chi Trung and Vietinbank General Director Le Duc Tho.

The project aims to strengthen the capacity and reliability of the power infrastructure in the capital and Ho Chi Minh City through rehabilitation, expansion and development of the 220kV and 110 kV electricity power grids in the respective cities.

It also aims to meet the increasing demand for electricity in the two cities in the period from 2014 to 2016.

The Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City power grid development project has a total investment of 392 million USD, with 272.7 million USD sourced by loans from the ADB and the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund (AIF).-VNA