The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of Vietnam February 2 signed a loan agreement worth US$45 million for the Central Region Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project.
The loan aims to support the country's efforts to achieve national development targets and Millennium/Vietnam Development Goals related to citizens’ access to clean water and sanitation.
State Bank of Vietnam’s Governor Nguyen Van Giau attended the signing ceremony on behalf of the Government, with ADB Country Director for Vietnam Ayumi Konishi also present.
The project will provide clean water and hygienic sanitation facilities for some 350,000 people in the six central coastal provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Nam and Binh Dinh, where poverty levels are higher than the national average.
The project will provide fund directly to households to build latrines. Poor families will be supported with grants, while credit will be given to households not designated as poor through a revolving fund managed by the Vietnam Women’s Union.
To improve hygiene awareness, community-level water and sanitation committees will be formed to support education activities, with at least 40 percent of the members being women.
The Vietnamese Government has made significant efforts to stay on track to meet its goal of providing access to clean water to 85 percent of the total population by 2010. While this goal is being achieved, the sustainability of water supply is affected by cost barriers, and communities are often overlooked in the planning and provision of services.
ADB’s loan, from the concessional Asian Development Fund, covers 90 percent of the project’s $50 million cost. The loan has a 32-year term, including a grace period of eight years.
The Vietnamese Government and project beneficiaries will make up the balance of the cost with in-kind and cash contributions totaling $5 million. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is the executing agency for the project, which is due for completion around the end of 2016.
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