ODA disbursement in agricultural projects hits 31.33 mln USD in five months

Building a dyke in Tien Giang province (Illustrative photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - The disbursement of official development assistance (ODA) at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) this year was estimated at 718.3 billion VND (31.33 million USD) as of May 31, or 25.2 percent of the target.

The ministry has attempted to remove bottlenecks in each project and speed up the process.

Some projects have seen adjustments to policies and loan agreements resulting in implementation and capital disbursement, in particular Sustainable Agricultural Transformation (VnSAT) and the Forest Sector Modernisation and Coastal Resilience Enhancement Project (FMCR).

The ravages of COVID-19 have also been an obstacle to the importation of machinery and equipment and the hiring of foreign consultants and contractors.

Most forestry projects require large amounts of time for training stakeholders, according to acting head of the Management Board for Forestry Projects Do Quang Tung.

Forestation is also hampered by COVID-19, he noted.

To speed up disbursement in ODA projects, MARD has asked relevant agencies to report to the Prime Minister on reciprocal capital replacing foreign capital for value-added tax payments. 

Close to 2.85 trillion VND in foreign capital has been allocated to MARD in 2021, which has been distributed to 16 of its projects since the end of last year./.

VNA