France puts €31 mln towards Vietnam rail project
The French government Wednesday handed over €31 million as part of a soft loan package to upgrade a railway linking the capital Hanoi with Lao Cai province along the Chinese border.
The project is expected to be completed by 2012 and will upgrade 283 km of line.
Bridges will be reinforced, stations built and new locomotives purchased in a bid to allow more passengers on the line.
The upgrade will costs a total of US$160 million, including $60 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), €32 million from the French Development Agency and €31 million from the French government.
This is Vietnam’s third railway upgrade project to receive financial assistance from the French government.
Previously, France provided funding for an upgrade of railway signalling systems on the Hanoi-Vinh railway line and to build an urban railway in Hanoi.
Speaking at the aid signing ceremony in Hanoi, French Ambassador Jean Francois Blarel said his government was pleased to be involved in helping Vietnam develop its infrastructure.
Since 1997, €42 million has been doled out by France for this purpose, he noted.
Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Cao Viet Sinh said the Yen Vien-Lao Cai railway is one of 31 prioritized infrastructure projects in the country.
Vietnam News Agency - April 26, 2007.
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