The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Vietnamese Government have signed a $800,000 grant agreement, to improve irrigation and drainage infrastructure ensuring further poverty reduction in four northern provinces.
The technical assistance grant will finance the project on upgrading water resources infrastructure covering over 50,000 hectares in the northern provinces of Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Bac Giang and Bac Ninh that are located in the central and northeast areas of the Red River Delta.
In addition to the irrigation and drainage infrastructure upgrading work, the project will also promote economic development through training staff of irrigation and drainage system management companies.
“To raise incomes and reduce poverty in rural areas, the country needs to increase agricultural production and consequently increase employment opportunities,” said ADB Country Director for Vietnam Tomoyuki Kimura.
“And that could not be done without development of effective rural infrastructure which is at the core of both economic growth and social development.”
Despite recent high rates of economic growth, low household incomes and poverty persist in rural areas of Vietnam because of small land-holdings and limited access to productive resources, particularly, water resources.
The grant was carried out by ADB and the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, which is to be administered by ADB, aiming to assist the Government to more effectively use its natural resources and contribute to increasing agricultural output and expanding employment opportunities, raising rural household incomes and reducing poverty.
