Vietnam PM Proposed Financing $433M for Flooding Control in HCM City

Authorities in Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City have proposed Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approve a credit package worth VND9.65 trillion ($433 million) to help it cope with flooding which becomes worse recently. The money is expected to come from the World Bank’s soft loans, the online Tuoi Tre newspaper reported. The municipal government said it would use the money to finance a flooding-caused risks management project with seven components that would solve inundation on a scale of 14,000 hectares. The project is anticipated to benefit roughly two million locals. Ho Chi Minh has 60,000 hectares of the city are under threats of flood due to weak tide control capacity, saying tide rise and overloaded infrastructure caused serious inundation. Meanwhile, a group of local experts said that the terrible flooding is largely resulted from backfilling a system of canals, degrading the water drainage capacity. It is estimated that the city needs approximate VND100.24 trillion ($4.5 billion) in the next five years. The city needs an estimated VND4.2 trillion for principal and interests in 2016-2020. (Tuoi Tre – Youth Oct 22, Thoi Bao Kinh Doanh – Business Times Oct 23 p4)