(VNF) - The State Bank of Vietnam and the World Bank on July 9th (US local time) signed four credit agreements totaling USD507 million to support Vietnam’s priorities in sustainable agriculture, poverty reduction, and a bus rapid transit system.

The signing took place in Washington DC, on the occasion of the first official visit of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong to the US.

The financing covers four projects: the sustainable agriculture transformation project (USD238 million); additional financing for the ongoing livestock competitiveness and food safety project (USD45 million); additional financing for the second Northern mountains poverty reduction project (USD100 million); and the Ho Chi Minh city green transport development project (USD124 million).

The sustainable agriculture transformation project supports the government’s efforts to reform the agriculture sector, especially rice and coffee production. It will directly benefit up to 140,000 families in the Mekong Delta by helping them to improve farming practices, invest in processing infrastructure, and link with agri-businesses. The project will also support some 62,000 coffee-producing households of about 250,000 people in the Central Highlands.

The livestock competitiveness and food safety project is working to boost the efficiency of the livestock sector; reduce the environmental impact of livestock production, processing and marketing; and improve food safety in livestock product supply chains. The project has already yielded results, as better animal husbandry practices have helped reduce mortality rates and lowered the cost of animal feeding.

The second Northern mountains poverty reduction project is supporting the government’s efforts to reduce poverty in the poorest region of Vietnam. The additional financing will continue and deepen poverty reduction activities in the six provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Yen Bai; include additional districts and communes; scale-up and strengthen participatory local development planning and institutionalize this approach in the government’s overall national poverty reduction programs; and promote market linkages and business innovations to boost farmers’ income.

“The project areas have some of the highest rates of poverty in Vietnam, and many beneficiaries are from impoverished ethnic minority communities. We support the Government’s goal of reducing poverty through the community-driven development approach, and hope that the successes achieved will be replicated in other communities in Vietnam,” said Ms Nguyen Thi Thu Lan, World Bank senior environmental economist and the team leader for this project.

The Ho Chi Minh city green transport development project will finance the development of a 23-kilometer-long bus rapid transit corridor, which will transport up to 28,300 passengers a day. The project will also help city authorities prepare for a proposed six-line network and lay the foundation for an integrated public transport system in the future.

According to Arturo Ardila-Gomez, the World Bank’s project lead transport economist and project team leader, the Vietnamese Government is addressing infrastructure constraints that may impede country’s continued strong economic performance. Upgrading a key transport corridor in Ho Chi Minh city can demonstrate to the rest of the country the potential of a sustainable urban transport system./.

( VNF )