The figures were reported during a working session between a working delegationof the National Assembly’s Standing Committee and the provincial People’sCommittee on July 16.
According to reports, the province arranged nearly 315 billion VND (13.8million USD) in corresponding capital for programmes and projects using ODAduring the period, 296 billion VND (12.98 million USD) of which was disbursed, or94 percent.
The ODA-funded programmes and projects in the locality focused on four mainareas, namely agriculture, transport, healthcare, and education. Agriculturesaw the largest number of 14 programmes and projects, while the other threefields recorded one each.
The provincial People’s Committee said the province’s management and use offoreign ODA in the 2011-2016 period was always conducted in line with law. Morespecifically, for projects directly invested in by the province, Bac Lieuclosely managed the use of ODA and preferential loans, ensuring they were usedfor the correct purposes, with no tolerance of corruption, loss, orwastefulness. All works have proven effective after they were put into use.
However, Chairman of the Committee Duong Thanh Trung pointed out that there wereno strategic ODA projects to boost local socio-economic development and the useof loans to invest in agricultural, transport, healthcare, and educationalworks remained asynchronous.
To use loans effectively, he suggested the Government consider arranging timelyODA capital for approved projects, focusing on pivotal ones of large scale.
On behalf of the working delegation, Nguyen Duc Hai, Chairman of the NA’sFinance-Budget Committee, spoke highly of Bac Lieu’s socio-economicdevelopment, including the implementation of ODA-funded projects, especially inthe fields of clean energy and aquaculture.
Despite modest ODA capital allocated for Bac Lieu in recent times, theprovince’s use of this source was both suitable and in line with itsdevelopment strategies and objectives, particularly in terms of health,agriculture, and climate change response, he said.
Earlier on in the day, the delegation inspected several projects and works thathad used ODA in the province.-VNA