Disbursement on ODA projects to be stepped up

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai made this statement while chairing a meeting with the Ministries of Transport, Planning and Investment, Finance, Construction, Natural Resources and Environment, and Agriculture and Rural Development, on July 10 in Hanoi. 

The meeting aimed to seek measures to remove obstacles and accelerate the progress of the nine projects included in the list of slow-disbursement projects in 2012. 

These nine projects are on water supply systems, information technology development, environment sanitation in coastal cities, agricultural competitiveness, land management systems, urban transport, modernisation of financial information systems, quality assurance for school education and modernisation of the tax system.

The Deputy Prime Minister requested related ministries, branches and localities to review and handle problems arising in the process of implementing the projects. At the same time, the projects management bodies should upgrade the capacity of the projects’ management boards, while being fully responsible and closely directing and supervising the project’s implementation and disbursement process.

Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank Country Director in Vietnam, said that besides progress seen in several projects such as the projects on environment sanitation in coastal cities, land management system and financial information system modernisation, many other projects are facing slackness.

In particularly, the project on urban transport in Hanoi that could be canceled due to slow disbursement, she added.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment has been confided to coordinate with the government’s ODA management agencies to work with the WB on the issues relating to capital extension and supplementation for the projects.