The Vietnamese Ministry of Finance and the French Development Agency (AFD) have signed an agreement to help Ho Chi Minh City face its objectives in socioeconomic development and to meet the challenges of urban growth.
Mr. Dov Zerah, General Director of the French Development Agency, Mr. Vu Van Ninh, Minister of Finance of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and M. Jean-François Girault, Ambassador of France in Vietnam signed a loan agreement of US$29.1 million to develop the city infrastructure.
The project is in line with French cooperation in Vietnam. The sustainable growth of HCMC faces considerable challenges. Urban growth is rapidly increasing and population is seeing a significant increase as well.
The city needs are considerable and the city has defined a strategy for urban development until 2025, based on a population forecast of 10 million inhabitants.
This new challenge requires the need to implement large-scale projects for transportation, potable water, pollution, power and waste treatment. Infrastructure of sewage, health, education and housing has also to be addressed.
The program will be partially financed by AFD through the urban development fund of HCMC (HFIC). The loan will enable the building of social housing and education institutions, as well as re-enforce the capacity of hospitals and modernize waste collection and management.
The AFD loan to the Vietnamese government will be 96 million EUROS. Support funds will come from the public, government, municipality, companies and private sectors.
With this new financing agreement, the total accumulated net commitment of AFD will officially support development assistance (ODA) in Vietnam of about 1,050 billions EUROS.
