Vietnam had received a total of $80 billion worth of the official development assistance (ODA) and soft loans as of 2018, making it the biggest recipient of this type of funding in the world, of which about 80% was provided by six international donors, state media reported. The figure was released at a meeting held in Hanoi on June 17 by the ODA National Steering Committee with the participation of representatives of the six donors such as the World Bank (WB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), the French Development Agency (AFD) and the KfW Development Bank. The event aims to speed up the disbursement of the development aid after the disbursement of the fund slowed down in recent years. Of the total figure of the ODA, $7 billion was non-refundable aid, more than $70 billion was concessional loans with interest rates under 2%/year, and $1.62 billion was loans under less generous conditions but their interest rates were still lower than commercial ones. In 2018, the six donors committed $28.9 billion for Vietnam, of which up to $16.9 billion is yet to be disbursed. However, the disbursement rate of ODA and loans in Vietnam had slowed, dropping from a high 23.1% in 2014 to just 11.2% in 2018, which was lower than the average global rates recorded by the six donors. In the first five months of 2019, as much as $608 million were disbursed for development investment projects, with $334 million came from the six banks and organizations, he added. (VietnamNews, Vietnam Plus, #, cand, Bao Chinh Phu, Lao Dong, VTV, Thoi Bao Ngan Hang, Bao Chinh Phu, VnEconomy, VietStock, VietnamNews)
