Original Vietnamese content is translated by LaoDongAI

The Ministry of Finance promotes cooperation with ADB to mobilize sustainable development capital

lục giang (báo lao động) 16/04/2025 09:49 (GMT+7)

Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang suggested that ADB strengthen cooperation and promote loan disbursement to Vietnam.

Expect more comprehensive cooperation in the new period

On the morning of April 15, Minister of Finance Nguyen Van Thang received and worked with Mr. Scott Morris - Vice President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in charge of East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific region, and the ADB working delegation on the occasion of attending the P4G Summit in Vietnam.

At the meeting, Minister Nguyen Van Thang affirmed that ADB has been an important development partner of Vietnam for more than three decades, contributing about 30% of total ODA capital and preferential loans to investment projects of the Vietnamese Government. These loans mainly focus on key areas such as transportation, agriculture, healthcare, education, sustainable development and climate change response.

The Minister suggested that ADB continue to accompany Vietnam, especially in mobilizing new loans for strategic infrastructure projects, digital transformation, green transformation and sustainable growth. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance pledged to closely coordinate with ADB to speed up the implementation of programs and projects under implementation.

On the side of ADB, Mr. Scott Morris expressed his gratitude to the Vietnamese Government for its strong cooperative relationship with ADB over the past 30 years. He appreciated Vietnam's development orientations and affirmed that ADB is ready to accompany through expanding the scale of funding, including unguaranteed government and private loans. He also noted that in the past 3 years, the proportion of private sector loans in Vietnam has been low compared to economic potential and needs to be promoted more strongly.

Accelerating reforms to accelerate ADB loan disbursement

However, both sides also frankly acknowledged that the progress of ADB loan projects in the past has been slow, causing many obstacles from project preparation, approval, signing of agreements to disbursement. These delays stem from both subjective and objective causes. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance affirmed its readiness to work with ADB to review and find solutions to improve capital efficiency and accelerate disbursement, especially in the context of the economy needing strong financial momentum to achieve growth targets.

To remove obstacles in legal procedures, the Vietnamese Government is directing the review and amendment of many regulations related to the Law on Public Investment, the Law on State Budget, the Law on Public Debt Management, and Decree 114/2021/ND-CP, in the direction of increasing decentralization, delegation of authority and simplifying procedures to shorten project preparation time.

Minister Nguyen Van Thang added that the loan agreement for the CRIEM2 project - developing climate change adaptation infrastructure in Phu Yen and Quang Tri provinces - has completed procedures and is expected to be signed in 2025. This will be a positive signal opening a new phase of cooperation between the two sides.

In addition to government-level cooperation, Minister Nguyen Van Thang also emphasized the importance of ADB loans for the private sector - an essential resource to promote sustainable economic development. The Ministry of Finance pledged to continue working closely with the ADB to concretize cooperation programs, provide technical assistance, and promote regional cooperation in the coming time.

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