Loans worth nearly $US234m have been agreed between the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Vietnam to support reforms to strengthen the country’s competiveness and help deliver a sustainable urban transport system in Hanoi.
Kimura said strengthened competitiveness will be critical to Vietnam in the global recovery and its continuing integration into the world economy.
“ADB welcomes and fully supports the government's strong commitment to the ongoing economic restructuring and reform agenda which will allow the country to continue to successfully transform itself into a dynamic, competitive, and efficient market economy,” he said.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index for 2013-14 shows Vietnam was losing ground, ranking 70 out of 148 countries -- down one place from the 2006-07 survey, and ranked second lowest among Asean countries.
Vietnam is to receive a $US230m policy loan for its Improving Competitiveness Program, which will support government reforms in six policy areas -- the financial sector, fiscal policy, public sector administration and accountability, state enterprise management, public investment management, and the business environment.
The second agreement is for a $US4.2m loan to support Hanoi's Metro Rail System project, which aims to reduce the city's dependence on high-polluting vehicular surface transport. On top of that loan, the Clean Technology Fund will provide a $49 m loan, administered by ADB, to support sustainable transport benefits of the metro line 3 investment.