Successful projects lead to greater ODA liquidity
The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) reported that disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) and concessional loans in this year’s first half reached $3.1 billion, including over $3 billion worth of loans and about $84.48 million in grants.
Disbursement soared 41 per cent up on the $2.2 billion released during last year’s corresponding period.
The disbursed sum included $1.088 billion from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), $923 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), $717 million from the World Bank, $110 million from German government-owned development bank KfW, $67 million from Korean Eximbank and $90 million from the French Development Agency (AFD).
Among major disbursements are a $250 million disbursement from the World Bank’s Economic Management and Competitiveness Credit for Vietnam Programme, which is aimed at helping the country with economic management reforms for higher productivity and competitiveness and the AFD’s support programme to respond to climate change in Vietnam.
“Notably, faster-paced construction of major transport infrastructure and energy projects has contributed to this six-month ODA disbursement,” said Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh.
According to the MPI, some $105 million funded by JICA has been disbursed for the project to build the second terminal at Hanoi’s Noi Bai International Airport. Some $27 million has been spent on a World Bank-funded project to build traffic infrastructure in the Mekong Delta and $15 million has been disbursed for the ADB-funded Ho Chi Minh City-Dau Giay express way.
In the energy sector, $125 million has been disbursed for JICA-funded projects including the O Mon thermal power plant and power transmission grid for the Mekong Delta, as well as the Nghi Son thermal power plant ($37.4 million). Also within this sector, there were disbursements for the ADB-funded Mong Duong thermal power plant ($94 million), and the World Bank-funded power distribution efficiency project ($72 million).
In mid-August, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung clinched a decision on allocating an additional VND3.6 trillion ($171 million) in counterpart-funding for ODA projects. He also ordered central and local authorities to arrange enough reciprocal funding for ODA projects next year, with the aim of boosting disbursement of ODA nationwide.
According to the MPI, around $21 billion of ODA had yet to be disbursed by the end of 2013, including $8 billion which is planned to be released this year.
