EIB Vice President responsible for Asia, Mr Jonathan Taylor, informed that during his meeting with Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Hanoi Nguyen The Hung on January 10th.
Last August, the foreign Bank inked an agreement supplementing EUR68 million for the project, raising its financial assistance to EUR143 million, making up nearly 15 percent of the total capital. So far, EUR50 million were disbursed and is speeding up the progress.
Once operational the 12.5 kilometer-long dual track rail with 12 new stations (eight elevated and four underground) will transform public transport in Vietnam’s capital city, thus improving travel time, reduce transport costs and cut polluting emissions.
Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Hanoi Nguyen The Hung (right) received EIB Vice President responsible for Asia, Mr Jonathan Taylor, in Hanoi on January 10th, 2018. (Photo: hanoimoi.com.vn)
“New investment to improve sustainable public transport and to reduce harmful emissions is essential for world cities. Daily travel for hundreds of thousands people will be transformed by expanding urban transport in the Vietnamese capital by construction of this new line of the Hanoi Metro. The loan for the Hanoi Metro will contribute greatly to a project that will reduce traffic congestion and pollution in a city that has grown significantly in recent years. Seeing construction at first hand shows the technical ambition and scale of this impressive metro project”, stressed Mr Jonathan Taylor following a visit to see construction of new stations and the over-ground line at first hand.
For his part, Vice Chairman Nguyen The Hung shared that the city is doing its best to deal with current situations of transport infrastructure and environmental protection. It is now home to around 10 million population, over six million motorbikes and around 600,000 cars.
In the urban transport master plan which was approved by the Prime Minister, Hanoi to have nine urban metro systems covering 410km (350km elevated and 70km underground).
Besides, the city has built a roadmap to reduce personal vehicles. It will prohibit motorbikes in the inner city by 2030 and focus on developing public transport means like buses.
Apart from transport infrastructure development, the city is focusing on measures to protect the environment, especially solid waste treatment. With long-term cooperation experience, Hanoi hopes the EIB will provide financial support and help European businesses to invest in the field.
EIB Vice President responsible for Asia said his Bank will continue working with Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular to address environmental issues, especially mitigating the impacts of climate change.
The early building of a cooperation mechanism is essential to ensure the best efficiency of the projects.
“The EIB support for transformational investment in Hanoi demonstrates the close cooperation between the EU and Vietnam. Once the new metro is complete, transport in the city will be transformed and residents will benefit from quicker journeys and reduced pollution”, according to Mr Bruno Angelet, Ambassador-Head of the EU delegation to Vietnam.
Vice President Taylor is currently leading a high-level EIB delegation on a three day visit to Vietnam../.