~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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ADB loan to help Ho Chi Minh City set up first hospital of international standard

MANILA - The Asian Development Bank [ADB] will provide loans worth US$7.5 million to help set up the first general hospital of an international standard in Viet Nam's largest city. In its first private sector project in health care, ADB said it will provide two loans to Far East Medical Vietnam Ltd. The project involves the construction of a 200-bed hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, to be called the Franco-Vietnamese Hospital.

The project will focus on aspects of medical care where the need is greatest. The hospital will provide state of the art diagnostic services and tertiary medical care through surgical, maternity, cardiology and oncology centers. The loan agreements were signed as of 30 November. The loans were processed by ADB's Private Sector Group and approved by ADB's Board of Directors on 13 November. The project is promoted by Medical Founders Holding SA, which is owned by French doctor-investors. Along with ADB, the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, and the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, a leading domestic commercial bank, will provide loans to the project. The total project cost is estimated to be US$40 million.

"The project will support the government's efforts to develop the private health sector in Viet Nam and meet the acute shortage of health care services," said Adiwarman Idris, Head, Project Finance II, ADB's Private Sector Group. It is a pilot project aimed at attracting more private investment in health care by demonstrating the commercial viability of health sector projects in Viet Nam and other developing Asian countries. The ADB loans will help to provide the main hospital building, medical equipment, staff housing, information technology systems, furniture, and fixtures. The Singapore-based Gleneagles Management Services Pte Ltd will manage the Franco-Vietnamese Hospital.

The hospital's Vietnamese doctors will be supported by full-time and part-time expatriate French doctors. The project will transfer medical and hospital management expertise to Viet Nam. It will create employment for more than 500 Vietnamese people and train Vietnamese doctors and nurses. ADB will provide a senior loan of US$5 million and a subordinated loan of up to US$2.5 million, both from its ordinary capital resources through its LIBOR-based lending facility. The senior loan will have a repayment period of 10 years, including a 4-year grace period, and the subordinated loan will have a repayment period of 10 years, including a 6-year grace period.

Asia Pulse - December 7, 2001.