A section of the metro line No. 1 project in HCMC is under construction. The Japan International Cooperation Agency has complained about Vietnam’s overdue payments for the project -

According to a press release issued on May 7 by the agency, from July last year to March this year, JICA supported Vietnam in executing several projects, such as the Lach Huyen International Port in Haiphong City and a wastewater treatment plant in the Cau pagoda area in Quang Nam Province’s Hoi An City.

However, Vietnam and Japan did not sign any official development assistance agreements during the period due to Vietnam’s public debt management policies and complicated administrative procedures for capital disbursement, said Konaka Tetsuo, JICA's chief representative in Vietnam.

The late capital disbursement may hinder inflows of foreign investment, including those from Japan, Tetsuo said, adding that JICA will continue cooperating with the Vietnamese Government and localities to resolve the problem.

At a press briefing at the end of last year, Nguyen Viet Phong, director of the Construction and Investment Capital Statistics Department, under the General Statistics Office, said State budget and Government bond sale disbursements amounted to VND365.7 trillion last year, or 91% of the target.

The slow disbursement was attributed to the gap between localities’ medium- and long-term public investment plans and their socioeconomic development targets and capacities. SGT