In an interview with a Da Nang Newspaper reporter on the sidelines of yesterday’s seminar on the Da Nang Sustainable Development Project, the World Bank (WB) Country Director for Viet Nam, Ms Victoria Kwakwa, affirmed that around 400,000 local residents, including 205,000 women, would enjoy benefits from the project.

WB Country Director for Viet Nam, Ms Victoria Kwakwa

Ms Kwakwa said that her bank had selected Da Nang to implement some WB-financed projects because of the development of a good bilateral relationship between her bank and the city over the past decade.  She highlighted the fruitful results of WB’s cooperative projects in the city.  She added that the implementation of the Sustainable Development Project was proof of that close bilateral relationship.

Ms Kwakwa said that apart from helping to make Da Nang a green, environmentally-friendly, and liveable city, the project would expand and improve the local public transport systems.  She said that the focus would be on improving sanitation services and infrastructure.  She noted that Da Nang would become the first city in Viet Nam to have comprehensive and extensive wastewater collection and treatment systems which meet the national standard.  She added that special attention would be paid to enhancing the management capacity for the project’s implementation.

Ms Kwakwa said that this complex, multidisciplinary, project is costing a total of 272.135 million USD, and it has taken nearly 2 years to complete the preparatory work.  She added that the agreement to fund to the project was signed within 3 days of the WB giving their approval.