The loans comprise 170 million USD from ordinary capital resources (OCR) and 20 million USD from the hard terms facility of the bank’s concessional Asian Development Fund (ADF).

The OCR loan has a 26-year term, a six-year grace period, and interest set in accordance with its LIBOR-based lending facility. The ADF loan has a 32-year term, an eight-year grace period, and carries an interest charge of 2.02 percent, the Manila-based financial institution said in Hanoi o­n May 3.

The French government will complement the ADB assistance by extending about 100 million EUR over 10 years to help develop the university, which sees the Vietnamese Government’s contribution of 23 million USD, it added.

“As the Vietnamese economy evolves, innovation and technical skills are expected to play an increasingly important role in driving growth and development and this new model university will support this by providing industry-relevant science and technology teaching and research,” said Norman LaRocque, ADB’s Senior Education Specialist for Southeast Asia.

Along with funding physical facilities to accommodate an initial 5,000 students, the loans will help develop modern governance and management systems and capacity-build senior staff along with establishing centers to promote high quality, relevant academic programs, research, and links to industry groups in the private sector.

These features will provide a model that can be replicated at other local universities across Vietnam in the future.