HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City and the Asian Infrastructure InvestmentBank (AIIB) hope to enhance their ties to facilitate infrastructure developmentin Vietnam’s southern economic hub.

The news cameafter Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Thanh Liem onSeptember 13 met with AIIB Vice President Joachim Von Amsberg who was inVietnam for the World Economic Forum on ASEAN (WEF ASEAN) 2018.

WelcomingAmsberg to the WEF ASEAN in Hanoi, Liem said this year’s event aimed to addresskey issues in ASEAN nations in the era of the fourth Industrial Revolution(Industry 4.0), relevant to HCM City’s aim to become a smart city.

The city isfacing big challenges like climate change, traffic congestion and pollutionthat necessitate investing in infrastructure to keep it aligned with localsocio-economic development and lay a foundation for Industry 4.0 in the city,he said.

He proposed theAIIB send experts to assist the city’s authorities in business supportprogrammes and Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects in infrastructure.

The AIIB official,for his part, lauded the city’s potential, saying the bank pays heed to thecapital need of Asian cities, including HCM City, in capital-intensiveinfrastructure projects in transport, energy and water supply.

Amsberg said hisbank wants to build a long-term partnership with HCM City and discuss with thelocal government on new financing methods for urban development, such asnon-government guaranteed loans or a support programme to call forinternational financing.

As a young anddynamic bank, the AIIB is ready to cooperate with the city in support projectsfor local small- and medium-sized enterprises and other private businesses ininfrastructure development.

The AIIB, a multilateral development bank, hashelped many Asian countries achieve better infrastructure, deeper regionalintegration and poverty reduction, said an official from the bank.

According to Supee Teravaninthorn, Director General of AIIB's InvestmentOperations Department, the bank has focused on promoting sustainableinfrastructure, regional connectivity and private capital mobilisation over thelast two years.

In its first year of operation in 2016, the AIIB approved investment of 1.7billion USD for nine infrastructure projects in seven countries, includingPakistan, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Azerbaijan and Oman.
 
In 2017, another 2.5-billion-USD investment was approved by the bank for Egypt,Georgia, India, the Philippines and China.

For countries in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, the AIIB has financed,approved, or prepared funds for infrastructure projects, including those toimprove energy efficiency and air quality in Myanmar and China.

AIIB is considering projects related to water resources, energy, andsustainable city development in Vietnam, which are likely to be launched in2018 or 2019. –VNA