Development goals and investment costs of Vietnam may be seriously affected by slowing disbursement of ODA-funded projects, the Asia Development Bank (ADB) said in a meeting with Vietnamese delegation to overview implementation of projects in 2007.
Most of the ADB-funded projects have progressed slowly, as a result, unallocated amount of money is increasing, the bank said.
Statistics showed that in the first half of this year, nearly 22 per cent of projects and programs financed by ADB in Vietnam run with sluggish paces, such as technical and vocational training project, Mekong River infrastructure development project, Red River Project, or Phuoc Hoa irrigation project.
Ari Honda, head of ADB harmony and project management unit, said the stagnant allocation of the funds from the bank would have bad impacts on Vietnam’s efforts to reach development goals.
She warned that the sluggishness of old projects would slow down the progress of new ones even though they are ready for implementation.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Investment and Planning (MPI) admitted that the disbursement in 2006 was lower than that in 2005.
In the first seven months of 2007, Vietnam disbursed US$95.3 million of ODA capital funded by ADB, meeting only 43 per cent of the full year plan, the MPI said.
Among 15 loans of slow disbursement, five come from agriculture and rural development projects, three from finance projects, two from education projects, two from transport projects and three from health care, waste and hygienic projects.
PMI Deputy Minister Cao Viet Sinh said that it would be great loss for the country when the capital had not been disbursed as planned, while many other are in need of money.
Ari said the increase in number of extended projects due to the changes in cost estimation and the cumbersome procedures are reasons for slow ODA disbursement.
It takes 8.6 months on average to approve a project, she said.
ADB, however, highly appreciated Vietnam government’s efforts to streamline legal framework on ODA management, Ari said.
Vietnam and ADB expect the disbursement of ODA to reach US$11 billion in 2006-2010. (VTC, Vietstock)
Vietnamese
