Illustration photoThe Republic of Korea (RoK) intends to lend US$1.5 billion ODA to Viet Nam in the 2016-2020 period, US$0.9 billion of which will be given to finance cooperation and the rest to other priority areas, like large-scale infrastructure, railway, healthcare, and IT.
The newswas announced at a policy dialogueheld by theMinistry of Planning and Investment (MPI)on June 8 in Ha Noi.
At the dialogue, Viet Namannouncedthesocio-economic development planin the2016-2020period, the medium-termpublic investment plan, theLaw on Public Investment,the Bidding Law, DecreeNo. 16/2016/ND-CP on management and use of ODA and concessional loans provided by foreign donors, and the Law on State Budget.
Meanwhile, theKorean sidealso presenteditspolicies and new regulationsondevelopment cooperation and ODA.
Financial cooperation will bekeyin Viet Nam-Rok cooperation in near future, said Le Quang Manh, Head of theForeign Economic Relations Department under the MPI.
Viet Nam needs to take advantage of the financial support from the Korean government and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)andcontinue to mobilize support from the RoK in the areas wherethe RoK hasexperience and strength and Viet Namhashigh demand, such as transport, health, environment,as well as high technology, he said.
The expert proposedViet Nam shouldactivelysuggestprojectswhich focus oneffectivesectorsand localities in accordance with itsmedium and long term development plans, he added.
On his side, Sang Kyu Lee,a representative fromtheKoreanMinistry of Strategy and Finance, affirmedthatthe RoK always promotes the exchanges and cooperation with Viet Namin the fields of economics, culture, and society.
The Korean Governmentattaches specialimportance to development cooperationin such fields astransport infrastructure, urbandevelopment,healthcare,education,environment; clean energy and IT.
Mr. Sang Kyu Lee revealed thatthe Korean government is formulatingthe Country Partnership Strategy(CPS)forViet Namin order to help therecipient country achievethe objectives of transportation infrastructure,IT,scientific and technologicalhuman resources inthesocio-economic development strategy for the period of2011-2020 and socio-economic development plans for 2016-2020.
The RoK Government signed lending agreements or committed to providing credit for nearly 60 projects worth US$2.8 billion in Viet Nam from 1992 to 2015. Currently, the RoK has had34 investment projects worth of US$1.7 billion in Viet Namof which US$0.9 billion hasbeen disbursed.
The two sides are preparing to negotiatea Credit Framework Agreement for2016-2020./.