Hanoi needs EIB’s support to develop urban railway
Hanoi hopes to continue having the European Investment Bank (EIB)’s company in developing its urban railway system, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen The Hung told Vice President of the bank Jonathan Taylor at their working session in Hanoi on January 10.
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Hung said transport infrastructure and environmental protection are among issues that Hanoi is actively addressing since it has a big population of nearly 10 million, over six million motorbikes and 600,000 cars.
The Prime Minister has approved a planning scheme to build nine urban railway routes in Hanoi with a total length of about 410km, including nearly 70km underground.
The city has built a roadmap to reduce personal vehicles. It will prohibit motorbikes in the inner city by 2030 and focus on developing public transport means like buses.
The capital is carrying out two urban railway routes. The first phrase of the No.3 is underway with a length of 15km, including four km running underground, using official development assistance (ODA) capital from multiple foreign sources, including the EIB.
Last August, the bank signed an agreement supplementing EUR68 million for the project, raising its financial assistance to EUR141 million, making up nearly 15% of the project’s total capital.
So far, Hanoi has disbursed EUR50 million and is speeding up the progress of the project.
Apart from transport infrastructure development, the city is focusing on measures to protect the environment, especially solid waste treatment, Hung said.
With long-term cooperation experience, Hanoi hopes the EIB will provide financial support and help European businesses to invest in the field.
Taylor said his bank will continue working with Vietnam and Hanoi to address environmental issues, especially mitigating the impacts of climate change.
The early building of a cooperation mechanism is essential to ensure the best efficiency of the projects, he noted.
Taylor is leading a high-level delegation from the EIB to visit Hanoi from January 8-10.
The bank is owned by 28 EU members. Since 1998, it has approved investments worth over EUR710 million in Vietnam, mostly in projects on transport, climate and renewable energy.
