A loan agreement to this effect was signed in Hanoi on September 15 between representatives of the AFD and the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment.

The loans will help improve local people’s living conditions in the urban area to meet their increasing demand for social and environmental services and to support urban development and management in a controllable and sustainable way. It will focus on such areas as healthcare, education, housing for low income earners, environmental pollution mitigation and solid waste treatment.

To date, the AFD has provided loans worth 649 million Euro for Vietnam, mostly in the form of official development assistance (ODA).