The OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) has granted a loan of US$22.5 million to two projects of upgrading hospitals in Hanoi and the northern province of Tuyen Quang.

 

Under the agreement signed on Wednesday in Hanoi between Vietnamese Minister of Finance Vu Van Ninh and OFID Director General Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish,  Vietnam will contribute $2.5 million to the projects.

 

Trung Son Hospital in Tuyen Quang will benefit from the investment with 90 new beds and some equipment, while health workers will receive training from now until 2015.  

 

Meanwhile, the Hanoi-based Central Transport Hospital will receive another 200 beds, health equipment and training within the next three years.

 

According to the Ministry of Finance, to date Vietnam has made loans totaling $161 million from OFID for 17 projects in various fields like transport, health, and poverty alleviation, adding that more allocations from the fund are expected in the future.