Japan has pledged JPY 175 billion (US$1.9 billion) in preferential loans for 11 major projects in Vietnam, according to a bilateral agreement signed in Hanoi on Friday.

The loans, with a term between 30 and 40 years, will have interest rates ranging from 0.2 percent to 1.4 percent a year, according to JICA.

The project to improve the national road will receive the largest disbursement – JPY 24 billion.

Meanwhile, the funding will also be earmarked for four other transport projects, including the 2nd stage of the project to build the road connecting Nhat Tan bridge and Noi Bai airport; the 3rd stage of the Nhat Tan bridge project; the 3rd stage of the project to improve safety on the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City; and to project to build the Hanoi urban railway.

Other beneficiaries include the Cai Mep–Thi Vai international port, the O Mon thermo-power plant, the Nghe An irrigation system, and the Hanoi-based Yen Xa waste treatment.

The said 11 projects are chosen because of their high priority and significance, said JICA head representative Motonori Tsuno at the signing ceremony.

Seven out of the 11 projects have already began, and Japan is committed to maintaining funding for the next construction stages of these projects, he added.

“These are all effective projects that have well used the funding so Japan will continue to pledge loans,” he said.

Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Truong Chi Trung, who also attended the ceremony, said the loan agreement has a significant meaning as the two countries are aiming towards the 40th anniversary of bilateral friendship this year.

Japan resumed ODA funding for Vietnam in late 1992. The country has since provided nearly JPY 90 billion for Vietnamese projects of infrastructure building, and climate change.

Japanese-funded projects contributing to Vietnam’s socio-economic development include Pha Lai, Phu My, Ham Thuan–Da Mi power plants, national high-way bridges No. 5, 10 and 18, Bai Chay, Thanh Tri and Can Tho bridges, Hai Phong port and Tan Son Nhat international airport, according to Vietnam News Agency.