The project will improve the environment by treating wastewater, strengthen institutional capacity to manage sanitation and wastewater services, and increase public awareness on the benefits of improved sanitation practices.

“The Bank has a long standing and strategic partnership with HCM City. Through this new project, the city will be able to address its sanitation challenges in a more cost effective manner and create a city that is clean and competitive,” Victoria Kwakwa, World Bank country director for Vietnam said in a press release on December 23.

“Improved urban sanitation services benefit all citizens, especially the poor. This project will ensure that the poor in the project areas are well served by having household connections to the sewer network.”

The project will benefit about 1.1 million people in the city and includes a waste water treatment plant that will treat wastewater collected in the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe basin and from parts of District 2. The plant will treat untreated wastewater that is currently being discharged to the Saigon river. 

Through the project, sewer networks and house connections to the network will be installed in parts of District 2. The project will also provide technical assistance to improve sanitation and wastewater management practices in the city.

The total project cost is US$495 million, of which US$250 million will be financed through a loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and a US$200 million credit through the International Development Association (IDA). HCM City will provide US$45 million from its own resources for the project.

(Translated by MT – December 25, 2014)