On April 16, Vietnam, the World Bank (WB), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed loan and grant agreements amounting to $400 million for three socioeconomic development projects in central and southern Vietnam. The signing ceremony was part of the fourth Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit, which was organised in Hanoi.
The biggest project involves water environment improvements for the southern province of Binh Duong, with a total investment of VND7.2 trillion ($288 million). VND5.35 trillion ($214 million) of which will be mobilised by loans from the WB’s International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
Signing ceremony
The project aims to address environmental pollution caused by urban wastewater in the cities of Thuan An, Di An, and Tan Uyen. It will finance new urban wastewater collection and treatment systems in Tan Uyen, expand networks, and upgrade treatment capacities in the other cities, strengthen wastewater management capacity in Binh Duong, and enhance water security for downstream areas of the Saigon and Dong Nai rivers, including Ho Chi Minh City, which sources around 40 per cent of its water supply from the Dong Nai river.
The second initiative is a southern waterway corridors and logistics development project, which has a total investment of VND3.9 trillion ($156 million), including nearly VND2.5 trillion ($100 million) as a loan from the WB's International Development Association.
The project will improve infrastructure, reduce congestion and accidents, and lower waterway freight transport costs by upgrading the East-West and North-South transport corridors, linking the Mekong Delta with the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port cluster. It will also facilitate connections to the future Can Gio International Transhipment Port, boosting socioeconomic development and ensuring national defence and security in the Mekong Delta and Southeast regions.
The third undertaking is climate resilient inclusive infrastructure for ethnic minorities in Phu Yen and Quang Tri provinces, which has an investment of VND1.8 trillion ($72 million).
The ADB will provide a loan worth $29 million and a grant worth $1 million to Phu Yen, while the rest will bee counterpart funding from the province.
The Quang Tri venture is worth $39.7 million, and the ADB will provide a loan of $30 million, with the rest coming from the province’s counterpart funding.
The WB and ADB are strategic development partners that have accompanied Vietnam for decades, playing a crucial role in poverty reduction, infrastructure improvement, governance enhancement, and promoting sustainable development.
The WB is one of Vietnam’s largest multilateral partners, providing ODA loans and concessional financing, meeting approximately 35 per cent of the government’s external borrowing needs. As of April 2025, it had committed over 180 loans, grants, and technical assistance packages to Vietnam, totalling around $26 billion, with signed loan agreements amounting to approximately $23 billion. Its funding concentrates on investments in essential infrastructure, transportation, energy, education, healthcare, water, the environment, and agriculture.
Since 1993, the ADB has provided over $18 billion in loans and grants to the country, which focus on developing transportation infrastructure, clean energy, vocational education, rural development, and enhancing climate change resilience, particularly in disadvantaged regions and areas with ethnic minority communities.
In addition to financial support, the WB and ADB are key partners in supporting the Vietnamese government by providing non-reimbursable technical assistance for project preparation, policy advisory, and capacity building in governance and administration.
Source: VIR
