HANOI: The World Bank is extending Vietnam $973.5 million in credits to help build a highway in the centre of the country, upgrade urban infrastructure and promote policy reforms, it said in a statement.
The highway project, for which the bank will provide $613.5 million, will link the city of Danang to the province of Quang Ngai to its south, enhancing road safety in the poor central region and facilitating domestic and international trade, the World Bank said.
The distance from Danang to Quang Ngai City is about 130 kilometers.
The project would help build institutional capacity for highway development by the Ministry of Transport, the bank said in a statement late on Thursday.
Another $210 million would be go toward improvement of infrastructure in medium-sized cities, including Lao Cai near the border with China, Phu Ly outside Hanoi, and Vinh in the north-central region.
Businesses and economists list infrastructure bottlenecks, including inadequate road and power networks, among the top deterrents to development and investment in Vietnam.
A poverty reduction credit of $150 million, the 10th such credit the World Bank has given Vietnam, would support policy and institutional reforms.
International donors in December pledged $7.4 billion in official development assistance to Vietnam for 2012, a drop of 6.5 percent from pledges for 2011 of $7.9 billion.
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