A delegation from the World Bank (WB) met with local authorities in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho to discuss a project to help the city reduce flood risk.

The WB’s project manager Marc Forni, who led the delegation to the city on November 14, said this is the third project in which the WB provided official development assistance (ODA) to the city and hailed the efforts made by the city to accelerate the implementation of the project.

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Vo Thi Hong Anh, Vice Chairwoman of the municipal People’s Committee attached significance to the project on reducing flood risks in downtown Can Tho and improving connections between downtown and new urban areas.

She called for more support from the WB for the city in human resource training, enhancing the city’s administration in natural disaster management.

According to Deputy Manager of the ODA project management unit Tran Minh Phat, a number of the project’s contracts have been appraised, including the building of flood sluices, and several bridges.

According to the municipal People’s Committee, the project has a total investment of 322 million USD, of which 250 million USD is sourced from ODA from the WB and 10 million USD of non-refundable assistance from the Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

The project, to be carried out from now until 2021, is expected to benefit nearly 430,000 residents in Ninh Kieu, Binh Thuy and Cai Rang districts. Nearly one million others in the areas will be protected from floods during high tide.

Source: VNA