Ousmane Dione, Country Director WB (centre) in Việt Nam speaks with Chairman of Phú Yên People's Committee Phạm Đại Dương at the Phú Yên Development Co-operation Conference held in Tuy Hòa City late last week. — Photo tinnhanhchungkhoan.vn

HÀ NỘI — The central province of Phú Yên has called for the World Bank’s provision of official development assistance (ODA) to support the implementation of four projects with a total investment of about US$70 million.

They are the construction of a railway flyover and Nguyễn Tất Thành road connecting Nguyễn Hữu Thọ Street in Tuy Hòa City, the sewage treatment plant and septic tank of Tuy Hòa City, Xuân Lâm water reservoir in Sông Cầu Commune, waste treatment plant and garbage dump in Hòa Xuân Đông Commune in Đông Hòa District.

Phú Yên also called for World Bank’s soft loans for investment in two other projects with a total capital of over VNĐ1 trillion ($43 million), including the embankment from An Chấn Commune in Tuy An District to An Phú Commune in Tuy Hòa City and coastal tourism road from Phú Hội Village in Tuy An District to the National Highway 1.

At the Phú Yên Development Co-operation Conference held in Tuy Hòa City late last week, Chairman of Phú Yên People's Committee Phạm Đại Dương said Phú Yên was in need of the World Bank’s credit assistance to build transport systems and natural disaster prevention work such as sea dykes and reservoirs.

Dương told the conference that Phú Yên is also interested in improving the business investment environment, creating favourable conditions for the private sector to develop, while at the same time attaching great importance to environmental protection.

The locality also hopes for technical support in planning and conducting feasibility studies on the building of a smart city in Tuy Hòa, along with consultations in calling for resources from outside and promoting public-private partnerships, he said.

“Phú Yên is a fast-growing province with large investment demand. In the period 2021-25, we aim to maintain a growth rate of over 8 per cent per year. Therefore, the timely support of the World Bank is crucial to the province,” Dương said.

Ousmane Dione, Country Director WB in Việt Nam, said that the bank was willing to co-operate with the south-central province and become the locality’s partner in areas proposed by the locality.

Following the conference, the WB would take specific actions to implement relevant projects, he said.

Currently, Phú Yên needed to make use of three funds of institutional, human and natural capital to build a strategic vision and draw up specific financial plans. The province should take advantage of information technology application, create a friendly, safe and selective business environment which was associated with sustainable development, he said

In the 2011-15 period, Phú Yên received 14 projects worth VNĐ1.38 trillion funded by ODA and soft loans, up 21.1 per cent over that in the 2006-10 period.

The resources mostly came from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the German Development Bank, and the French Development Agency.

The province has attracted two WB-funded projects on overcoming natural disasters’ consequences and strengthening land and land data management for 2016-20. — VNS