KfW may up VN development fund
KfW may up VN development fund
KfW, the German Development Bank, has targeted a loan commitment of EUR500 million (US$692 million) per year for development projects in Viet Nam, up from EUR200-300 million per year over the last two years, an official from KfW has said.
"It has not been done yet, but our target depends on the criteria to be met by Viet Nam," Dr Ulrich Schroder, CEO of KfW, a state-owned German bank, told Viet Nam News on Wednesday during his visit to HCM City.
"We see a huge potential for Germany and other European countries to invest in Viet Nam," he said.
However, to have more access to financial assistance like Official Development Assistance (ODA), Viet Nam needs to simplify administrative procedures, fight corruption and improve its secondary school and higher education system, he said.
In addition, he noted that the energy and health sectors remain dominated by the State sector.
"So it's a good thing for the country to open these sectors to the foreign private investment sector," he said. "Of the loan commitment, we would focus on long-term investments such as energy like wind power, infrastructure, roads, and the health and education sectors."
He said that German companies believe Viet Nam has huge potential in IT and software, and are interested in investment in these areas.
Germany provides loans for Viet Nam in several fields, including a metro system, forestry, secondary education, microfinance and the electricity sector.
Commenting on the slow progress of the Metro's Line No. 2 in HCM City, Schroder said that the project had to deal with geographical and geological issues just as metro projects in other countries do.
In general, the delay of projects in Viet Nam is often due to complicated administrative procedures as well as corruption, he added.
Viet Nam is KfW's third-largest strategic partner in Asia, following China and India.
Total investment capital that KfW committed to Viet Nam, has reached EUR1.2 billion ($1.66 billion), with a total of 71 projects, of which EUR594 million ($822 million) has been disbursed.
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