ADB will provide an US $800,000 grant for the Technical Assistance for Preparing the Thanh Hoa City Comprehensive Socioeconomic Development Project, which has a total estimated cost of US $1.25 million. The government of Spain will extend a US $200,000 grant for the project, while the government of Vietnam will cover the balance.

The project will finalise the master plan for the provincial and regional economic development; prioritise investment proposals on the basis of their impact on economic growth; and prepare investment proposals for official development assistance, private sector participation and strengthening of small-and-medium sized enterprises.

“The province with its significant natural resources has strong potential for regional socioeconomic development,” said Hubert Jenny, senior urban development specialist of ADB’s Southeast Asia Department.

Through the project, infrastructure in the province should improve, transforming Thanh Hoa into an important regional economic center and enabling it to achieve its target of raising gross domestic product per capita to US $1,800 in 2020 from US $1,000 in 2005.