USTDA Partners with SAWACO to Improve Ho Chi Minh City's Water Supply

(USTDA) HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM –At a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City, USTDA awarded a $593,660 grant to upgrade SAWACO's Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Strategy and Implementation Plan. The grant was signed by Robert Ogburn, Acting Consul General of the U.S. Consulate in Vietnam and Tran Dinh Phu, General Director of the Saigon Water Corporation (SAWACO). This technical assistance grant will enhance operational efficiency and planning at SAWACO by improving the existing strategic plan through needed information management, and developing an implementation plan for an ICT management system for Ho Chi Minh City's water supply network.

USTDA Regional Director Henry Steingass noted, “The rapid growth of the economy and population has made water supply infrastructure development a priority in Vietnam. We are pleased to support the development of SAWACO's ICT strategy and implementation, and to connect them with U.S. technologies and expertise.”

“This technical assistance will assist SAWACO in reaching its goal of supplying 100 percent of consumers in HCMC with potable water by 2025,” stated Ogburn. “The grant that we are signing today is further evidence of the continued partnership between our countries and highlights the priority that the U.S. government and the U.S. private sector have placed on their relationship with Vietnam.”

SAWACO produces more than 1.2 million cubic meters per day of potable water, a number which is increasing due to rapid economic and population growth. As such, SAWACO is striving to improve and modernize its service and provide reliable supply with 100 percent coverage. By helping SAWACO improve its operations, the assistance will help SAWACO meet its potable water supply goals to meet Ho Chi Minh City's demand, increasing water distribution to nearly 530,000 homes and providing piped water to an additional 20,000 new homes.

This technical assistance grant will mark the second time which USTDA has supported SAWACO in meeting its development objectives. In 2009, USTDA funded a feasibility study to help develop a method for water treatment and sludge disposal which was completed for SAWACO in 2011.

The opportunity to conduct the USTDA-funded technical assistance will be competed on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website. A link to the FBO announcement will be posted to USTDA's website at www.ustda.gov. Interested U.S. firms should submit proposals according to the instructions in the FBO announcement.