In future projects, the counterpart funds should be well and firmly arranged at project preparation, including the fund sources, budgeting, financial management, and coordination among the central government, the VEC, and the local governments. At appraisal, it was arranged that the government counterpart fund would fully finance the cost for LAR. However, the government was not able to provide adequate and timely counterpart funds. The significant financing gap raised several serious issues and concerns and postponed project implementation for at least 2 years. Despite repeated requests from the ADB missions, counterpart funds were still not timely available. The counterpart fund availability was not only a project- or sector-specific concern, but a system-wide problem in Viet Nam.
Greater Mekong Subregion Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway Project - Tranche 1