On April 5, Mr. Nguyen Van Phong, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee had a working session with the Directorate of the French Development Agency (AFD) (the branch in Hanoi) on the project funded by AFD in the province.

Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Phong and AFD’s Board of Directors discussed the following contents:  implementation of the Irrigation Infrastructure Development Project in An Thi District, which is using the loans from the French Development Agency in Hanoi; the construction, operation and exploitation of Chua Tong pumping station.

According to the report of the People’s Committee of An Thi District, the Irrigation Infrastructure Development Project in An Thi District has been invested and built in the period of 2014 - 2020 with a total investment capital of over VND 185.6 billion, invested by the People’s Committee of An Thi District,  in which, loan from AFD is over VND 156.5 billion; AFD’s non-refundable fund is over VND 4.1 billion; the reciprocal capital of the province is nearly VND 25 billion.  So far, 6 bidding packages have been completed; 7 bidding packages are being carried out.  Total disbursed capital by December 31, 2018 is over VND 99.6 billion.

According to the report of the Irrigation Work Exploitation One Member Co., Ltd, the project to strengthen the management of irrigation and improvement of the irrigation system (Chua Tong pumping station in Yen My district) is co-financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and AFD, built in 2013 and completed on December 31, 2017.

The project is invested by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of the province and deployed in Trung Hung commune and Thanh Long commune (Yen My district).  The project has the total investment of nearly VND 90 billion.  It includes the pumping station with 5 groups of vertical axial pumps and the management and operation area with a total area of 328m2.  The project has been completed and put into operation, which works effectively in irrigation and flooding prevention.

At the working session, Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Van Phong highly appreciated the efficiency of the projects funded by AFD in the province.  The project has contributed to promoting the province’s socio-economic development, especially in the agricultural and rural areas.  He stressed that the province has actively overcome difficulties and obstacles in order that the project is implemented ahead of schedule and attain the highest efficiency.  Up to now, the construction items have been basically completed and qualified based on the requirements of AFD and saved expenditures.

Mr. Phong hoped that AFD would continue to cooperate and invest the amount saved during the construction process to complete a number of connecting sections of the canal which are adjacent to the infrastructure of the project in order to form the complete irrigation system to make it more convenient for irrigation and drainage.

To the Irrigation Infrastructure Development Project in An Thi district, he said that  with the packages being implemented, the province would direct investors to urge contractors to focus on building, completing, ensuring the progress and quality in accordance with the approved estimation and design and striving to complete the bidding packages in 2019.

Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee also suggested AFD continue to let investors to use the reserved amount to improve the project’s effectiveness.  If AFD approves the proposal, the province will urge investors to quickly complete the investment procedures and documents.  At the same time, he hoped that in the coming time, AFD would introduce enterprises investing into the province, especially in the agricultural sector.

By Pham Dang