The announcement was made by AFD Country Director Resmi Genevey at a meeting on June 17, marking the French agency’s 20th anniversary in Vietnam.
Resmi said over the years, AFD has financed 75 projects in Vietnam, mainly in rural development, energy, transport, clean water supply, irrigation and environmental sanitation.
He revealed that last year his agency spent EUR7.8 billion on projects in developing countries, including EUR146 million for micro-finance, urban development, rural infrastructure, environment and climate change projects in Vietnam.
Despite becoming a middle-income country, Vietnam is still one of the main countries seriously affected by climate change, the AFD expert said.
Recent rapid development has posed new challenges to Vietnam, including an increasing demand for energy, overpopulation pressure due to residential migration from rural to urban areas, generation of about 1 million jobs annually, and enhanced protection capacity.
In its 2013-2015 cooperation strategy, AFD assistance will focus on shifting Vietnam’s growth model in a fair and sustainable manner, he said.
Financial sources will concentrate on encouraging sustainable and comprehensive urban development, modernising production and coping with climate change, Resmi said.
