The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) is willing to support Hanoi in transport, urban and environmental projects, Country Director of AFD Fabrice Richy said at a meeting with Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung in Hanoi on November 25.

Fabrice Richy stressed that AFD has maintained a long standing relationship with Hanoi. Under the cooperation agreement, AFD will assist the Hanoi government in developing priority programs such as air quality improvement, wholesale markets, urban logistics, waste management and treatment, among others.

Country Director of AFD Fabrice Richy and Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung. Photo: Thuy Linh

The investment program will focus on building smart cities, developing cities sustainable and resilient to climate change. The program contributes to further promoting the relationship between Hanoi and Ile-de-France (the Paris region). It is also the continuation of the cooperation between the two sides.

Fabrice Richy emphasized that there are many cooperation projects between AFD and Hanoi underwaym with a focus on metro line construction, lighting system installation in ancient works, among others. Therefore, today’s meeting aims to build a sustainable investment program between the two sides.

Hanoi is a major partner of AFD in both Vietnam and Southeast Asia, Fabrice Richy affirmed, adding that AFD is committed to always supporting the city in technical cooperation.

For his part, the Hanoi mayor thanked AFD for supporting the city's projects in recent years.

Chung affirmed that Hanoi always highly regards AFD’s role in Hanoi's development. The municipal government agreed with AFD to extend the French-financed metro line No.3 from Hanoi Railway Station to Hoang Mai district. Chung expected that AFD consultants will make agreement on evaluating and funding the project’s technical documents.

Regarding to the solution to reduce air pollution in Hanoi, Chung said that the capital city is speeding up projects of installing air monitoring stations, with the support of French consultants.

The Hanoi government hopes that AFD will support and give advice for Hanoi to assess and deal with pollution sources, Chung added.

He also said that Hanoi will hold a conference with experts and consultants from AFD to disseminate pollution causes and solutions among the people so that they will together with the city reduce air pollution.