On July 16, Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh received President of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Mr. Kim Lap Quan to discuss cooperation issues of mutual interest.

Expressing his gratitude for the reception from the city's leaders, Mr. Kim Lap Quan expressed his honor at having the opportunity to discuss with the capital's government, affirming that the development of Hanoi plays an important role in the socio-economic progress of Vietnam.

According to the AIIB President, Vietnam was one of the first partners to cooperate with China in the early days of its establishment. Over the past 20 years, Vietnam has achieved remarkable progress in socio-economic development, while still having potential for further development in energy and transportation on the way to becoming a modern city in the region.

Among them, railway and highway projects connecting regions play an important role. AIIB is ready to participate in providing resources for Hanoi to maintain and develop those economic and infrastructure achievements, Mr. Kim Lap Quan commented.

Therefore, the AIIB President wishes to have more specific discussions on Hanoi's development priorities and needs to move towards potential cooperation activities.

Expressing support for the cooperation policy between Hanoi and AIIB, the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee also affirmed his joy in working with the bank's leaders, based on the proposal of the State Bank of Vietnam.

The Chairman of the City People's Committee also affirmed that the visit of the AIIB delegation took place at the right time, in the context that the National Assembly has just passed many important documents, including the Hanoi Master Plan until 2030, vision to 2045; the Capital's General Adjustment Master Plan until 2045, vision to 2065, through which the city's appearance is expected to be restructured and urban infrastructure improved.

To achieve these goals, Hanoi is focusing on restructuring transportation, completing urban railway lines, and converting to green and automatic transportation. According to the Chairman of the City People's Committee, Hanoi aims to add 10 more metro lines, expected to be basically completed by 2035. On the other hand, the recently amended Capital Law also allows Hanoi to have an autonomous mechanism in implementing projects, mobilizing domestic and foreign resources...

In that context, according to the city leader, Hanoi is looking forward to receiving advice from investors and AIIB experts on planning, implementation methods, and capital mobilization methods so that the above projects can be implemented simultaneously in a short time. On the other hand, it is also necessary to consider technology, synchronization, and integration capabilities of urban railway lines in the long term future.

Thanking the information from the city leaders, the AIIB President affirmed that the issues pointed out by the Chairman of the City People's Committee are also part of the general trend when implementing urban transport projects in the world. Hanoi having its own mechanism to implement projects is a reasonable and focused approach to meet the development needs of the capital, minimizing administrative procedures, Mr. Kim Lap Quan commented.

Through sharing, the AIIB President affirmed that the priority in the bank's operations is to maximize the efficiency of financial resources and operational productivity, in addition, effective design and urgent implementation are also important factors in each project.

On this occasion, the AIIB President also gave some experiences in developing urban railway transport projects in countries around the world, in which effectively utilizing and mobilizing foreign investment capital is very important.

AIIB leaders also hope that in the coming time, there will be opportunities to actively exchange more with the city government to open up specific cooperation opportunities.

“AIIB wants to become a reliable partner of Vietnam, bringing positive impacts to the development of the capital Hanoi,” said Mr. Kim Lap Quan.