Speaking at the agreement’s signing ceremony, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Nguyen Hong Truong said, "The Government must develop and implement a comprehensive project to monitor and maintain the roads."

The project’s importance increases as the number of vehicles on the road rises and as the Government continues to expand already poor roads to meet increasing traffic demand, he said.

The Project for Capacity Enhancement in Road Maintenance, which began in September 2011, aims to help Viet Nam monitor and maintain its roadways with a Road Asset Management Database and with a Pavement Management System (PMS).

During the first phase of the project, from September 2011 to March 2014, JICA conducted several activities including using specialised vehicles to check the pavement conditions on 23 national roads in the North. They also developed a guideline for future road inspection and maintenance.

The agreement with JICA inaugurates the beginning of the second phase. JICA and the Directorate for Roads of Viet Nam, under the Ministry of Transport, will start the next phase this December. The project is scheduled to be completed within three years.

The project will upgrade the PMS’ web-based operations such as data collection and data analysis of selected routes.

Another branch of the project will improve and standardise road maintenance, inspection and project testing procedures. In this vein, JICA will assist Viet Nam in obtaining new technologies as well as specialised equipment and materials.

Vietnamese officials will also join training courses in Japan to learn more about road maintenance policies and technologies.