by Trinh Anh Duc
31-12-2001
Hydropower plant to be built in Cao Bang
Ground was broken on December 22 for the construction of a hydro electric power plant at Trieu Au commune in Quang Hoa district of northern Cao Bang province, local sources said. The plant is designed to include three turbine groups with a combined capacity of 6,000 kilowatts to ensure power supply for daily use of the local people as well as for production, mining and ore processing in the province. The Na Loa plant will be built at a cost of VND 111.35 billion (roughly US $7.4 million). When completed in the last quarter of 2003, the hydro electric power plant is capable of generating between 30 and 35 million kilowatts per hour each year.
World Bank funds rural transport networks
The World Bank assisted the northern province of Ha Nam upgrade and expand rural transport networks in disadvantaged communes with funding of US $2.5 million. Ha Nam province is one of 40 provinces in the country benefiting from the World Bank-funded project (WB2). During the 2000-2001 dry season, the province completed construction of 21 networks, with a total length of 68 kilometres and five semi-solid bridges, at a total cost of US $1 million. These roads helped local farmers conduct economic exchange and transport farm produce, contributing to the drive to eradicate hunger and poverty. The project managing board approved the construction of 24 networks during the 2001-2002 dry season with a total length of 58 km and five semi-solid bridges, at an estimated cost of US $850,000. The bidding units are striving to complete the project in the first quarter of 2002.
British grants to alleviate poverty
The British government pledged a grant of GBP 7.5 million (US $11 million) to alleviate poverty in Vietnam's northern mountainous provinces. Visiting British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott signed with Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc a Letter of Intent on the grant in Hanoi on December 10. The grant, from the UK's Department for International Development, will be used for a World Bank-led project to alleviate poverty in the northern provinces of Bac Giang, Hoa Binh, Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Son La, and Yen Bai. The assistance is aimed at providing appropriate knowledge and for supporting commune, district and provincial levels in using the World Bank loans more effectively in these provinces. Also, on December 10, Deputy Prime Minister Prescott signed an agreement with Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Minh Hien on the status and operation of the British Council in Vietnam. The agreement intends to ensure the British Council's expansion of operations to enhance educational and cultural ties between Britain and Vietnam.
US $207 million of ADB loans to be disbursed
Vietnam disbursed US $207 million, sourced from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), as development aid in 2001, the ADB announced. The aid includes US $200 million of soft loans, and US $7 million of non-refundable aid. The ADB has provided Vietnam with loans worth about US $2 billion since they resumed relations in 1993. ADB-loaned projects focus chiefly on infrastructure, management of water resources, agriculture and rural development, urban development, transport and communications, energy, health care and social development. Since 1999, the transport and communications sector attracted up to 40% of ADB loans; infrastructure development, 33% and agriculture, 19%. The ADB has also provided US $74 million as non-refundable technical assistance to 107 projects of the country. Vietnam's economic growth, private sector, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, and national management will be prioritised by the ADB in the coming period. The bank plans to put more investment into education, health care and urban development, in accordance with development strategies of territorial regions and socio-economic sectors.
Contract on Viet Nam's Biggrest Waterway Project Signed
A USD 84 million contract on upgrading two major waterways in the southern region was signed. Of the amount, the World Bank has committed to lend USD 73 million. It is the biggest waterway development project in Viet Nam. According to the project plan, a total of 600 km of waterway from Ho Chi Minh City to the southern province of Kien Giang and to the southernmost province of Ca Mau would be upgraded. The project covers dredging work, construction of a wharf, the upgrading or building of five bridges, and the installation of a buoy system. It also includes the construction of Can Tho and Ca Mau river ports. Vietnamese contractors won an international tender to be main builders of the project. They include the Viet Nam-Netherlands Joint Venture, DIC-VOACZ, the Viet Nam-China Joint Venture, VINAWACO-CWHEC, and the CONSTECH-Thang Long Bridge Company No. 5 Partnership.
Rural investment rises 1.74 times
The Vietnamese government invested VND 22,000 billion in major rural development projects during the 1999-2001 period, an increase of 1.74 times over the previous three years. The investment represented an increase of 3.8% in the make-up of the State budget, reports the Ministry of Planning and Investment. The money helped expand and upgrade rural irrigation and traffic systems, and build flood-resistant homes in flood-prone areas in the Mekong river delta, mountainous and remote communities. In addition to infrastructure facilities, money was poured into the production of crop and animal varieties of high economic value, scientific and technological research, and development of the processing industry. However, capital supply had not yet met demand and had not yet been invested in the development of rural crafts, said a source at the ministry.
Dac Cha Mon Reservoir put into operation
The Dac Cha Mon Reservoir in the Central Highlands Kon Tum' s Dac Bla commune was put into operation on December11 after one year of construction .The reservoir will irrigate 134 ha of rice acreage and 35 ha of subsidiary food in the province. Photo A general view of the reservoir.
UNICEF, Denmark support rural water supply project
A community-based project on rural water supply and environmental hygiene was carried out in 14 communes of Phu Loc district in Thua Thien-Hue central province, with financial assistance from UNICEF and the Danish International Aid Agency (DANIDA). The project had been implemented on an experimental basis since August 2000 with a total investment of VND 5.8 billion (US $390,000). The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and DANIDA provided VND 2.8 billion for the project and the local people, the remainder. It helped to increase the percentage of people in Phuc Loc district with access to safe water from 25.8% to more than 50%; and people using hygienic facilities from 15% to 25.8%.
ADB lends US $60 million for environment project
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) granted a soft loan of US $60 million to a US $98 million project on improving hygiene, water supply, and sewage systems in Vietnam. The loan will be repaid in 32 years with eight years having an interest rate of one per cent and the remaining 24 years, 1.5%. The project will be carried out in seven cities and townships of Vietnam, including central Ninh Thuan and Phu Yen provinces and southern Tay Ninh, Binh Duong and Kien Giang provinces. It will help upgrade water plants and sewage systems, raise people's awareness of environmental protection, and build water resource management policies in these localities. The French government also pledged a loan of US $11 million to the project. Earlier, ADB granted loans worth a total of US $240 million to four similar projects in Vietnam.
Denmark supports rural development in central provinces
The Danish Government pledged US $1 million to set up the Fund for Rural Water Supply and Sanitation of Vietnam. An agreement to this effect was signed in Hanoi on December 19 in the presence of Danish Ambassador, Bjane H Sorensen and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Pham Hong Giang. The donation aims to improve safe water systems and hygiene for poor people in rural areas of central Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces and the central highlands province of Dak Lak. The donation was part of Denmark's US $88-million, five-year Water Sector Programme Support to Vietnam.
Biggest bridge across Da river under construction
A ceremony to inaugurate the construction of Ta Khoa bridge, the biggest bridge across the Da river, was held on December 22 in Bac Yen district, northern mountainous province of Son La. Total investment for the 552-metre-long Ta Khoa bridge was put at VND 107 billion (over US $7 million). This was the first of the five major projects of the project to improve National Highway No 6. Construction of the bridge was expected to be finished within 17 months.
Canada funds community projects
The Canadian government pledged a grant of US $139,000 to ten projects on community development and gender equality in Vietnam. The project will be conducted in the northern provinces of Phu Tho, Bac Can, Hai Duong, Ha Nam, and Nam Dinh; and the central provinces of Ha Tinh, Thua Thien-Hue; the Central Highland province of Kon Tum; and the southern provinces of Binh Thuan and An Giang. Under the projects, about 7,200 people from those localities including 1,000 ethnic minority people, will benefit from the project.
ADB to provide US $800,000 for poverty reduction
The Asian Development Bank decided to grant US $800,000 to carry out a project on improving capability in hunger elimination and poverty reduction in eight communes in the central region of Vietnam. The money will be used to train and improve the capability of local officials in managing credit projects on rural development, agricultural promotion and vocational centres, thus contributing to implementing local poverty reduction programmes.
US$1 = 15,500 VND