HCM City, JICA to meet quarterly to speed up projects

This was reached by Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong at a meeting with Chief Representative of the JICA Vietnam Office Tetsuo Konaka on July 18.

Phong expressed his appreciation for JICA’s assistance in projects aimed at improving local infrastructure and people’s living standards, and asked it to continue supporting the city through development projects funded through Japanese ODA.

Voicing concern about the progress of some ODA-funded projects – such as the metro line no. 1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien) and the second phase of a water environment improvement project – he stressed that municipal authorities must pay attention to these projects and that he will inform JICA immediately when the National Assembly agrees to adjust the total investment capital for the projects, so that both sides can continue working together to ensure their progress.

The official noted that HCM City considers the metro line no. 1 critical to the development of the local public transport system, so in case of any problems with the disbursement of corresponding capital from the central budget, the city will advance the funding for project implementation.

It will also coordinate closely with JICA to prepare necessary procedures for other projects, he added.

For his part, Tetsuo Konaka thanked HCM City for working closely with JICA and asked the two sides to enhance coordination to solve obstacles to their projects.

He spoke highly of the financial advances provided from local budget for the metro line no. 1 project, pending the provision of corresponding capital from the central budget.

He also called for further cooperation to finalise technical procedures to be submitted to the Vietnamese Government in order to prepare for the signing of agreements on the continuation of some projects funded through Japanese ODA in HCM City.