Vietnam to Borrow ADB $100M for Climate Change Resilience Project by 2023

Governor Le Minh Hung of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the country’s central bank, has signed an agreement to borrow $100 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a climate change adaptation project which will be conducted in the central region from 2017 to 2023. Under the agreement signed on Mar 25, the ADB will lend Vietnam total $104 million, including $4 million in non-refundable aid. The $100-million loan will have a term of 25 years and a half under the ordinary capital resources (OCR) mechanism. The project will focus on constructing and upgrading infrastructure facilities to improve urban environmental conditions in coastal cities of Dong Hoi in Quang Binh province and Hoi An in Quang Nam province. The improved urban environment is expected to strengthen the municipal financial bases in the cities through an increase of tax revenues from the appreciation of land value and tourism industry. The project is in line with the Vietnam’s Socio-Economic Development Plan (SEDP) for the 2011-2015 period which prioritizes the construction of urban infrastructure with special importance attached to traffic networks, water supply systems and sewerages, waste and water treatment facilities. (SBV Mar 30, Thoi Bao Ngan Hang – Banking Times Mar 30)