Vietnam has requested the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to have greater access to less concessional loans or a combination between loans and grants for more affordable loan fee and safety of the public debt, according to Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh.
Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh and ADB’s Vice President Ahmed Saeed. Source: VGP.
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Over the past few years, the ADB has been actively contributing to the Vietnamese government in institution building, including the implementation of e-consultation and e-cabinet, Minh added.
As of present, the ADB has provided funds for 173 projects with total grants of over US$16 billion and non-refundable aid of US$340 million, contributing positively to Vietnam’s socio-economic development, especially in infrastructure, healthcare and the training of human resources, Minh asserted.
ADB Vice President Ahmed Saeed expected the government to closely supervise projects financed with ODA from six major development banks, including the ADB.
According to Saeed, Vietnam is an example of effectively utilizing ODA loans for development that other countries could learn from.
The ADB is committed to support Vietnam during the process of sustainable development, Saeed stated.
Eric Sidgwick, ADB country director for Vietnam, on June 26 said Vietnam’s average disbursement rate is less than half of the previous periods and slower than other countries that receive ODA from the ADB.
Sidgwick attributed complicated and time-consuming project implementation procedures to ODA’s low disbursement rate.
During the first six months of 2019, the disbursement rate was just 2.7% of the investment plan.
