New Infrastructure, Skills Training For Vietnam's Thanh Hoa Province

December 16, 2007 2:28 p.m. EST

Hanoi, Vietnam (AHN) - The Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction is providing $2 million for infrastructure development and skills training in Vietnam's Thanh Hoa province.

Thanh Hoa is strategically positioned as a regional hub, connected by a national road to Laos. Thanh Hoa City, the provincial capital, has the potential to drive the economy of the province but is currently constrained by poor infrastructure.

The Asian Development Bank will manage the project with Vietnam providing $400,000 to complete the project funding.

Thanh Hoa sits on the northernmost part of the central coastal provinces of Vietnam. A third of its population of 3.7 million is poor, with some districts having poverty levels of up to 57 percent.

The project will provide local governments with the funds, technical support and guidance to carry out new responsibilities under the concept of decentralization and bottom-up planning.

Thanh Hoa City will be assisted in identifying and preparing viable investment proposals, some of which will be financed by ADB.

The project is part of ADB's support for the comprehensive socioeconomic development of small- and medium-sized cities such as Thanh Hoa to strengthen their development links with rural areas and reduce environmental pressures on large cities.