The Ministry if Finance’s (MOF) decision to reject eight foreign loans with high interest rates totaling $1.2 billion was highly applauded by economists.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) has been asked to explain to the National Assembly why ODA (official development assistance) loans have reached a total of VND600 trillion, twice as much as the amount approved by the NA.

VietNamNet Bridge - The north-south highway would have a total length of 2,100 kilometers, running across 32 provinces and cities, and would be built in three phases.

The north-south transportation route is expected to be overloaded by 2020 with 45.3 million passengers and 62.2 million tons of cargo per annum. Building a north-south highway is the solution Vietnam has chosen.

Bui Duc Thu, deputy director of the National Assembly Deputies Affairs Committee speaks to Tuoi Tre newspaper about the Ministry of Planning and Investment’s role in tracking on the use of the overseas development aid.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam needs to draw up a long-term plan to stop receiving ODA within 15-20 years, experts say. As of June this year, it is no longer receiving preferential loans from WB.

VietNamNet Bridge - Overlapping duties in state management have been found in 18 fields.

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam now has to think of attracting private capital for development projects as preferential ODA loans will now have higher interest rates. 

Chairman of the Viet Nam-Japan Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group, Pham Minh Chinh, yesterday proposed increased exchanges between young legislators of both countries as a way to advance bilateral relations.

The slow progress of ODA fund and public investment disbursement may result in huge losses for the whole economy, thus, it is necessary to find ways to use these sources of funding efficiently and transparently to spur economic growth.

VietNamNet Bridge - The lack of transparency in Vietnam is causing foreign investors to consider BOT (build-operate-transfer) projects cautiously.

VietNamNet Bridge - Contractors fulfilling transport infrastructure projects are mostly from South Korea and China, according to a report released by the Ministry of Transport (MOT).

VietNamNet Bridge - According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), emerging economies in Asia, including in Vietnam, will need $26 trillion from now to 2030 to develop infrastructure. 

VietNamNet Bridge - China is pushing hard to build a new institution to accelerate cooperation among Asia Pacific countries. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Unusual climate changes provide favorable conditions for diseases to break out, while some infectious diseases eliminated in the past are likely to return. 

VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnamese businesses are continuing to import outdated Chinese technology despite repeated warnings by scientists that the country could become a ‘technology landfill’.

VietNamNet Bridge - National Assembly’s deputies think that it is necessary to set up public debt clocks in the central areas of large cities.

The Ministry of Transport (MOT) has said that the north-south highway requires lower costs compared with other projects, but the Ministry of Finance (MOF) says the required investment is high compared with the long-term public investment plan.

VietNamNet Bridge - Slow pace, inefficiency and higher-than-expected investment capital are the common characteristics of projects related to Chinese contractors.

In an effort to ensure public debt security, the Prime Minister has decided that from 2017, the government will temporarily stop acting as a guarantor for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that borrow money.