Hanoi needs EIB’s support to develop urban railway (Photo VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Hanoi hopes tocontinue having the European Investment Bank (EIB)’s company in developing itsurban railway system, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee NguyenThe Hung told Vice President of the bank Jonathan Taylor at their workingsession in Hanoi on January 10.
Hung said transport infrastructure andenvironmental protection are among issues that Hanoi is actively addressingsince it has a big population of nearly 10 million, over six million motorbikesand 600,000 cars.
The Prime Minister has approved a planningscheme to build nine urban railway routes in Hanoi with a total length of about410km, including nearly 70km underground.
The city has built a roadmap to reduce personalvehicles. It will prohibit motorbikes in the inner city by 2030 and focus ondeveloping public transport means like buses.
The capital is carrying out two urban railwayroutes. 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 agreementsupplementing 68 million EUR for the project, raising its financial assistanceto 141 million EUR, making up nearly 15 percent of the project’s total capital.
So far, Hanoi has disbursed 50 million EUR andis speeding up the progress of the project.
Apart from transport infrastructure development,the city is focusing on measures to protect the environment, especially solidwaste treatment, Hung said.
With long-term cooperation experience, Hanoihopes the EIB will provide financial support and help European businesses toinvest in the field.
Taylor said his bank will continue working withVietnam and Hanoi to address environmental issues, especially mitigating theimpacts of climate change.
The early building of a cooperation mechanism isessential to ensure the best efficiency of the projects, he noted.
Taylor is leading a high-level delegation fromthe EIB to visit Hanoi from January 8-10.
The bank is owned by 28 EU members. Since 1998, ithas approved investments worth over 710 million EUR in Vietnam, mostly inprojects on transport, climate and renewable energy.-VNA
VNA
