Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Bình Minh speaks at a meeting to review and find solutions for the implementation of 26 projects that are using loans from the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the 2017-2018 phase. — Photo VGP

HÀ NỘI — Approved projects using foreign capital in the period of 2017-18 must be reviewed after the signing of credit agreements to optimise the effectiveness of foreign loans.

This was the instruction given by Deputy Prime Minister Phạm Bình Minh at a meeting aimed at reviewing and finding solutions for the implementation of 26 projects that are using loans from the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the 2017-2018 phase, which were not listed in the mid-term public investment plan.

Representatives of the ministries of finance, planning and investment, health, industry and trade, agriculture and rural development, and natural resources and environment, as well as the Government Office, and the State Bank of Việt Nam (SBV) joined the meeting. 

The projects are primarily focused in the fields of infrastructure building, education improvement, urban and new rural development, grassroots-level healthcare network expansion, and water supply for drought-hit provinces.

As of July last year, Việt Nam graduated from the International Development Association (IDA), meaning that the country will no longer be provided with preferential loans from the IDA.

This year, Việt Nam will only have access to loans with higher interest rates from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and non-preferential IDA loans. 

The World Bank now requires that its business loans must be guaranteed by the Government, while the Vietnamese Government can not offer guarantees for foreign loans for businesses, according to current regulations. 

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy PM Minh, head of the National Steering Committee for Official Development Assistance and Preferential Loans gave directions for each project. 

The Ministry of Planning and Investment was asked to report to the Government on orientations to mobilise loans in the future, especially non-preferential loans. 

SBV has been assigned to get opinions from ministries, sectors and localities to the projects. — VNS