ADB gives central provinces a leg up

The fund will also go into improving community health care. The project is aimed at enhancing the livelihoods and incomes of poor households in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) corridor.

“As there is public investment portion of the state budget is limited pushing forward ODA projects is needed to effectively spur the economy and improve peoples’ lives, particularly the poor in both urban and rural areas,” said Tomoyuki Kimura, ADB country director for Vietnam.

“The projects we are signing off on today will help the government keep up with rapid urbanisation, improve disaster response and environmental quality, and enhance access to health services, particularly maternal and child healthcare, targeting the poor, ethnic groups, and women and children in rural areas improve their income through microfinance and improved production,” added Kimura.

$95 million will specifically come through the Asian Development Fund (ADF) under the ADB into the Secondary Cities Development Project for the localities of Buon Ma Thuot, Ha Tinh, and Tam Ky.

The project will improve solid waste management, upgrade roads, build flood dikes and drainage canals all to better respond to natural disasters.

It will also conduct project management support and capacity building to build the cities into sustainable, livable, and economically vibrant regional hubs.

The project is expected to boost their economies, balance regional development, and address overcrowding in primary urban centers. Its flood prevention and other disaster works are following up on a previous ADB-funded project in Ha Tinh and Tam Ky.

The project will run through March 2019.

The remaining $70 million is also from the ADF and will go into healthcare, specifically toward reducing infant mortality and improving maternal care, by addressing access to and quality gaps in commune health stations and hospitals and by strengthening health management in Dak Lak, Dak Nong, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, and Lam Dong.

The Central Highlands lag behind most of Vietnam in terms of health and health services indicators toward the Millennium Development Goals.

The project will improve the quality of health care through scholarships for health staff, and a focus on female staff and ethnic group students. It will also go into strengthening provincial health systems management.

The poor comprise 22 per cent of the Central Highlands’ population, much higher than the national poverty incidence of 14 per cent.