Japan to Loan Vietnam $211M for Flooding Control in Ho Chi Minh City

The Vietnam News Agency has reported that the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has pledged to finance $211 million for Vietnam to cope with inundation in Ho Chi Minh City. The support will be made through a number of special-purpose companies which will start next year with the participation of Mitsui Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Shimizu Construction Company, and Maeda Industrial Construction Company. The companies will build an 8-km concrete dyke and a system of sullage pits in a residential area frequently immersed in flooding water, nearly 10km from the downtown. The dyke will surround a 61-hectare area which is expected to complete by 2020. The reclaimed land will be used for building a residential quarter with 24,000 apartments which are slated for completion by 2022. In the near future, Ho Chi Minh City will receive a low-interest loan from Japan for resettlement compensation and infrastructure building. The JICA are running similar projects in Myanmar and Cambodia. Ho Chi Minh City is suffering serious flooding due to tide rise and fast urbanization in which local authorities have filled systems of canals and rivers to build high-rise buildings for profits while local residents continue approaching canals for residence. (Vietnamplus.vn Oct 17)