Women Unions to Manage Funds of ADB-funded Water Project in Central Vietnam

Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung has agreed to the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to allow the provincial women unions to manage funds of a clean water and environmental sanitation project worth $50 million in central Vietnam funded by the Asian Development Bank. ADB will provide loans worth $45 million, or 90% of the project, with a 32-year term including a grace period of 8 years, the government said on its website. The project, which is slated for implementation from now up to 2016, will benefit 350,000 people in six central coastal provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Nam and Binh Dinh. The project is part of a national strategy on supplying clean water in rural areas with an aim to improve living conditions of locals. Vietnam aims to supply clean water to 85% of its population by 2010.