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Vietnam to self-fund high-speed rail, avoid ‘strings attached’ foreign loans

Vietnam’s Transport Ministry, set to reveal its plan for a high-speed rail line between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, has said the project will utilise domestic finances and technology, as opposed to support from abroad, VN Express has reported. The central budget, government bonds, and low-interest loans will be used to fund the US$67 billion project.

“With a spirit of independence and self-reliance, the Politburo has decided that we will not depend on foreign loans, as borrowing from any country often comes with strings attached,” Nguyen Danh Huy, Deputy Minister of Transport, is quoted as saying.

Notably, debt-diplomacy has become common in recent years particularly in developing nations and given Vietnam’s precarious position in the world in terms of geopolitics, a reluctance to be indebted to external creditors is understandable. That said, this is a huge and very expensive project that really needs to be done right and Vietnam has no existing high-speed rail and therefore no experience installing and using the technology to speak of.

See also: Logistics in Vietnam

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