USD 440 million investment in water supply in Mekong Delta
This was the issue mentioned at the meeting on December 20 between Minister of Construction Pham Hong Ha and Director Ousmane Dione of the World Bank (WB) in Vietnam on the progress of project preparation project Safe water supply in the Mekong Delta.
Minister Pham Hong Ha chaired the meeting
Minister Pham Hong Ha said that Vietnam would soon complete procedures to confirm the use of USD 440 million in loans for the project. WB suggested the Ministry of Construction to set up steering committee (PSC) and early PSC to approve the plan. After examining the plan, the project management unit, Department of Technical Infrastructure will conduct feasibility study of the project.
WB also requested the Ministry of Construction to update the water supply planning in the Mekong Delta and mplementing some related procedures to ensure that WB can approve the project in March 2020.
In recent years, the Ministry of Construction and the World Bank have coordinated the implementation of a number of activities with certain results related to the project. However, there are still some points that need to be clarified to ensure the effectiveness of the project.
Minister Pham Hong Ha suggested that the WB continue to support research, clarify and improve the accuracy of scenarios for climate change and sea level rise so as to select appropriate technical solutions. In the end, the two sides agreed on a three month, two leaders' meeting to review the progress of the work.
