The Ministry of Planning and Investment will carry out an inspection into 2,600 ODA projects set up during 1993-2017 period. 

ODA projects to be inspected 

The international agencies resumed funding to Vietnam in 1993 and in 2017, the World Bank cut preferential ODA for Vietnam after it became a lower middle income country. The ODA loans to Vietnam already decreased sharply since 2015.

Vietnam is currently paying higher interest for ODA loans.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment said they would review the impacts on society, quality and the operation of completed and on-going projects. They will also review the disbursement process, the amount of remaining work and propose solutions to any existing problems.

From 1993 to 2017, Vietnam had 2,594 ODA projects of which 1,300 were invested by ministries and 1,197 were invested by local authorities, state-owned firms and banks. The majority of the projects were invested in big cities including Hanoi, Danang and HCM City.

The Ministry of Transport tops the list with 288 ODA projects. It borrowed USD175m from China to build Cat Linh-Ha Dong metro line in 2008. In 2017, it continued borrowing an additional USD250m for this stagnant project.

It borrowed USD1.1bn from the Asia Development Bank to build Noi Bai-Lao Cai Highway and USD168m from Japan to build Nhat Tan Bridge.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has 152 projects and most of them have become loss-making project such Thai Nguyen Iron and Steel JSC renovation project, putting huge pressure on the government. 

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has 272 projects while the Ministry of Health has 132 projects, all of which will be reviewed.

Dtinews