Central Irrigation Projects Office disburse ODA beyond the plan

Many sub-projects were completed ahead of schedule

In 2021, the Central Irrigation Projects Office (CPO) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development implemented six projects with a total investment of more than $1.5 billion, two projects with non-refundable aid for the Government of Vietnam worth nearly $40 million. It also carried out two projects with Vietnam’s non-refundable aid for Lao with a total investment of nearly VND118 billion.

Pham Dinh Van, CPO Director said that the implementation and disbursement of the projects met the assigned schedule and plan. Many sub-projects have been completed ahead of schedule, with good quality in both art and technology, soon put into operation to serve production effectively.

In addition, it has taken full advantage of the preferential capital from donors and international organisations to implement the projects of restructuring the agricultural sector in association with new rural construction, natural disaster prevention and mitigation.

In particular, the construction progress of the bidding packages under the sub-project "Investment in upgrading and perfecting the surface water observation and monitoring system in the Mekong Delta, under the Irrigated Agriculture Improvement Project” ( referred to as WB9) run ahead of the approved schedule. The sub-project is expected to complete in March 2022, six months earlier than planned.

For the Project on upgrading the irrigation system of the Len and Hoang Mai Rivers to improve the salinity control and the ecological environment and respond to climate change (KEXIM1), the construction work met the planned schedule, specifically at the pump station hubs, auxiliary works such as bypass, dyke, pumping station foundation. 

For auxiliary works such as camps, power lines and temporary bridges, work have been completed about 14.5 per cent and the disbursement value of the whole construction package is ten per cent.

The land clearance work of the other six items is continuing to be implemented drastically to ensure that surface will be transferred to constructors in time.

For the Project of Upgrading and Repairing Nam Loong Irrigation Works in Xop Bau District, Hua Phan Province (Laos), two packages include package 07/NL-LAO (Upgrading and repairing Nam Loong Irrigation works) and package 08/NL-LAO (Construction Supervision) were handed over in 2020. 

Good ODA disbursement thanks to elaborate preparation

To ensure the good implementation of tasks in 2022 as well as in the medium-term period from 2021 to 2025, the CPO proposed to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to adjust and supplement functions, tasks, powers and organisational structure of the CPO as situations relating to ODA and concessional loans has many changes.

The CPO Board asked for more funds for projects including ADB9, ADB10, WB10, KEXIM2, KfW1 and JICA5.

At the conference, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep assessed that in 2021, the CPO made great efforts and completed 115 per cent of the allocated ODA disbursement plan.

"The CPO has disbursed more than US$1.5 billion, equivalent to about 50 per cent of the total ODA capital allocated by the Government to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2021", Hiep said.

As a result, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's ODA disbursement rate in 2021 reached 63 per cent, ranking second among central ministries and branches while the national average was only about 33 per cent.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep said that the CPO prepared investment projects in the coming period effectively, so two ODA projects - Project ADB9 and ADB10 - were approved by the Prime Minister with total capital of US$300 million. Investment policies of the four other projects are expected to be approved in the first quarter of 2022.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that preparation for the project implementation must be made thoroughly and methodically. All possible risks and risk management solutions must be taken into account.