HCM City, JICA to meet quarterly to speed up projects
Leaders of Ho Chi Minh City and relevant agencies have agreed to meet representatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) Vietnam Office every quarter to promote projects funded through Japanese official development assistance (ODA).
The meeting between leaders of HCM City and JICA Vietnam on July 18 (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) –Leaders of Ho Chi Minh City and relevant agencies have agreed to meetrepresentatives of the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) VietnamOffice every quarter to promote projects funded through Japanese officialdevelopment assistance (ODA).
This was reached by Chairman of the HCM CityPeople’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong at a meeting with Chief Representative ofthe JICA Vietnam Office Tetsuo Konaka on July 18.
Phong expressed his appreciation for JICA’sassistance in projects aimed at improving local infrastructure and people’sliving standards, and asked it to continue supporting the city throughdevelopment projects funded through Japanese ODA.
Voicing concern about the progress of someODA-funded projects – such as the metro line no. 1 (Ben Thanh-Suoi Tien) andthe second phase of a water environment improvement project – he stressed thatmunicipal authorities must pay attention to these projects and that he will informJICA immediately when the National Assembly agrees to adjust the totalinvestment capital for the projects, so that both sides can continue workingtogether to ensure their progress.
The official noted that HCM City considers themetro line no. 1 critical to the development of the local public transportsystem, so in case of any problems with the disbursement of correspondingcapital from the central budget, the city will advance the funding for projectimplementation.
It will also coordinate closely with JICA toprepare necessary procedures for other projects, he added.
For his part, Tetsuo Konaka thanked HCM City forworking closely with JICA and asked the two sides to enhance coordination tosolve obstacles to their projects.
He spoke highly of the financial advancesprovided from local budget for the metro line no. 1 project, pending theprovision of corresponding capital from the central budget.
He also called for further cooperation tofinalise technical procedures to be submitted to the Vietnamese Government inorder to prepare for the signing of agreements on the continuation of someprojects funded through Japanese ODA in HCM City. -VNA
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The meeting between leaders of HCM City and JICA Vietnam on July 18 (Photo: VNA) 
