The State Bank of Vietnam and the Asian Development Bank signed three credit agreements worth US $210 million for the country’s rural infrastructure development and communicable diseases control.
Of the figure, US $108 million will be used in a US $138 million-project to improve the infrastructure in 15 poorest provinces in northern mountainous region. It aims to reduce poverty rates and boost sustainable socio-economic growth in those areas.
The second agreement, worth US $75 million, will be disbursed for the improvement of the transport system of the Northern Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), which will upgrade 340 kilometers of roads in a corridor stretching from coastal area of Thanh Hoa province to Houaphanh province of Laos then to Bangkok (Thailand). The project targets to widen market access and extend social services, reduce poverty rate for rural residents.
The last agreement will provide US $27 million for the GMS Regional Communicable Diseases Control Project. Over 1.7 million people living in 116 border districts of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia will benefit from the project.
The loans will be valuable for 32 years including eight-year grace period with annual interest rate of 1%./.