Accelerating infrastructure development in high-quality rice areas

On October 9 in Can Tho City, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Tran Thanh Nam chaired a meeting to review difficulties and obstacles related to the preparation for implementing the Infrastructure and Technical Support Project for High-Quality and Low-Emission Rice Production in the Mekong Delta (referred to as the Infrastructure Support Project), funded by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) of the World Bank (WB) and supported by the Transformative Carbon Asset Facility (TCAF).

Cao Thang Binh, senior agriculture specialist of the WB, expressed his hope that the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, relevant ministries, and localities in the Mekong Delta would find solutions and promptly remove difficulties to accelerate the project’s progress, especially by promoting the adoption of a resolution on specific mechanisms and policies for the project.

Mr. Binh expressed concern that by June 2026, if the project’s progress remains unclear, WB leaders may reconsider its funding. In addition to seeking a special mechanism from the Vietnamese government, Mr. Binh suggested that basic designs for most of the works should be developed simultaneously and that the government should provide additional resources.

“Time is no longer on our side. Only cooperation between the central and local governments can resolve these challenges,” emphasized Mr. Binh.

After discussion and feedback, representatives from the Departments of Agriculture and Environment in the Mekong Delta provinces agreed on a draft resolution outlining special mechanisms and policies for the Infrastructure and Technical Support Project for High-Quality and Low-Emission Rice Production in the Mekong Delta, utilizing IBRD loan capital, to be submitted to the government soon.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will serve as the managing agency for the entire project and be the authority responsible for investment decisions. The ministry will approve the project’s master plan and allocate funds to each province based on project components.

Provincial and municipal People’s Committees participating in the Infrastructure Support Project will be the beneficiaries of the assets formed through project implementation, as prescribed by law. The provincial Departments of Agriculture and Environment will act as project owners, working with local authorities and technical staff at the commune level to implement the project.

Additionally, provincial and municipal People’s Committees will assign local agencies and organizations to receive, manage, utilize, and maintain public assets derived from the project, ensuring sustainability and long-term efficiency.

It is expected that the project will have special financial mechanisms allowing the use of central budget capital to invest in public infrastructure works and activities related to technology development and transfer under the project that fall within local budget expenditure tasks.

Furthermore, the project will fully allocate 100% of IBRD loan capital and counterpart funds for investment in public infrastructure works and technology transfer activities that are not part of the central budget’s expenditure tasks.

Tran Chi Hung, Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People’s Committee, suggested that provincial Departments of Agriculture and Environment should establish project management boards to carry out the works.

Infrastructure investments should also include building pumping stations, as applying alternate wetting and drying irrigation techniques under the One Million Hectares of High-Quality Rice Project may render it impossible to regulate water levels without them.

Moreover, after establishing two-tier local governments, most provinces have not yet completed the steering committees for the One Million Hectares of High-Quality Rice Project. Mr. Hung said that once established, provincial authorities will include commune-level leaders participating in the project in the provincial steering committees.

After discussions and reaching a consensus, Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam expressed his hope that the Infrastructure Support Project would receive agreement from the Mekong Delta provinces to facilitate its implementation.

The investment categories included in the project were uniformly agreed upon: pumping stations, power lines, and sluice gate operations. These are public assets managed by provincial and municipal People’s Committees.

Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam also requested that localities complete and add newly established commune-level leaders to the Steering Committee of the One Million Hectares of High-Quality Rice Project.