Chairman of Nghe An People's Committee works with World Bank country director for Vietnam

The Chairman of the People's Committee of Nghe An Province speaks at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Duy

The "Vinh City Priority Infrastructure and Urban Resilience Development Project" consists of 4 components (Component 1: Integrated drainage, environmental sanitation and connectivity investments; Component 2: Expansion of storage capacity to reduce urban flooding; Component 3: River improvements and upgrades; Component 4: Systems and capacity development to improve urban resilience), with a total investment of 194.5 million USD, of which the proposed WB financing is 129.6 million USD.

Speaking at the meeting, on behalf of the leaders of Nghe An province, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung thanked the WB leaders' interest in the province in general, as well as the proposed project in particular.

He emphasized that Vinh city is identified as the motivative center and development focus of the province. The Central Committee's resolution also defines the construction of Vinh City as the economic and cultural center of the North Central region.

Therefore, Nghe An considers the "Vinh City Priority Infrastructure and Urban Resilience Development Project" as a priority to help improve and develop the infrastructure and environment of this important city; especially connecting the wastewater treatment systems, creating more green areas; improving the capacity of urban management and development of Vinh city.

Over the past time, Nghe An province in general and Vinh city in particular have made great efforts to implement measures to accelerate the implementation of related works. Currently, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee has assigned the specialized agencies of the Provincial People's Committee to coordinate with the Vinh City People's Committee and the authorities to complete the necessary procedures to submit to the Nghe An People's Committee for approval of the project’s Feasibility Report, no later than February 6, 2023.

At the same time, the Provincial People's Committee shall submit to the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Council for approval of the plan to use and repay loans, no later than February 13; as a basis for completing the dossier to submit to the Ministry of Finance for appraisal, negotiation and signing a loan agreement with WB and lending to Nghe An.

Affirming the high determination of Nghe An province in implementing this very important project, Mr. Nguyen Duc Trung said that the province will continue to work with central agencies, including the Ministry of Finance to speed up the completion of project procedures to ensure that the project can meet the requirements of WB.

Ms. Carolyn Turk - WB’s Country Director for Vietnam speaks from its agency in Hanoi. Photo: Thanh Duy

Ms. Carolyn Turk - WB’s Country Director for Vietnam highly appreciated the province's determination to access WB funds to implement the project. She also said that the WB agency in Vietnam is ready to support Nghe An in the process of completing the dossier to submit to the Ministry of Finance; as well as will inform the World Bank's headquarters in Washington D.C., U.S. about the province's progress in implementing the project documents.

On the basis of unanimous views and timelines for the implementation of the project between Nghe An and the WB representative agency in Vietnam, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Duc Trung thanked Ms. Carolyn Turk and WB officials for accompanying the province.

The head of Nghe An People's Committee believes that with the results of this meeting, the next steps will be accelerated. Leaders of the Provincial People's Committee have assigned clear and specific responsibilities to departments, sectors and Vinh City People's Committee to ensure the progress of the project.

For many years, Nghe An has used the financing of international organizations and institutions, including the World Bank. Currently, there are 14 projects in the province using WB funding with a total investment of about 290 million USD, of which the WB funding is about 220 million USD. Up to now, these projects have basically completed and shown effectiveness. In particular, in Vinh city, the Vietnam - Medium Cities Development Project - Vinh city Urban Development sub-project” with a total investment of 125 million USD, of which the WB's funding is 90 million USD, which has been implemented since 2012 and ended in 2019 with good results. On the basis of inheriting the results of this project, Nghe An province continues to propose the "Vinh City Priority Infrastructure and Urban Resilience Development Project" with the WB.

Thanh Duy