An agreement on the aid package was signed in Hanoi on December 20 by leaders of the State Bank of Vietnam, ADB and the Ministry of Transport.

The grant will help implement a pilot road rehabilitation project that improves traffic safety and climate resilience of the most dangerous and vulnerable segments of the national highway section in the south-central coastal provinces of Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan.

At the signing ceremony, ADB country director in Vietnam Tomoyuki Kimura said with the dramatic increase in the number of motorcycles and vehicles, traffic safety is one of the most critical challenges of Vietnam where the national fatality rate of about 1.5 per 10,000 persons is among the highest in the world".

He added that as frequent flooding and landslides are also posing traffic safety risks, sufficient safety measures should be in place for improving road infrastructure and driving conditions to reduce human and economic losses of road users and residents along the national highway.

Because the road is a coastal highway, it is extremely vulnerable to the impact of climate change especially flooding resulting from a combination of heavy rains and high tides in the sea. The project will address capacity development of national and local transport authorities and engineering solutions to improve climate resilience of the project road, such as raising vertical alignments, increasing cross-drainage capacities, and stabilizing slopes.

In order to reduce the vulnerability of local populations along the road corridor to the negative impact of increased traffic safety and climate change risks, the project will conduct road safety awareness campaigns in cooperation with Provincial Traffic Safety Committees and local community organizations.

(VOV)