Vietnam Govt Approves $122M ADB-funded Border Areas Development Project

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a $122 million border areas development supporting project, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the state-run Dau Tu online newspaper reported on May 5. The project will help the five participating provinces of Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dak Nong, and Binh Phuoc to better realize their growth potential and become more closely integrated into sub-regional frameworks including the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), the Cambodia Lao PDR Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA), and the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC). It will improve the project area s connectivity by developing critical transport infrastructure, leading to increased movement of people, agricultural produce, and other goods. Moreover, it will facilitate logistics and trade, and help develop the provinces capacity for investment planning from a regional integration perspective. As the provinces are at the joint borders of the Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam Development Triangle Area (CLV-DTA), the project will enable them to serve as an engine and gateway to wider markets for this sub-regional initiative. ADB is one of the major donors for Vietnam over the past decades. Between 1993 and 2014, the bank financed roughly $13.91 billion to the Southeast Asian country. The majority of the funding goes to road and telecommunications projects (32.3%), energy (17.6%), agriculture and natural resources (13.1%). (baodautu.vn May 5)