The World Bank's program-for-results (PforR) project for improving the governance capacity of local governments for rural revitalization in the border area of Hunan and Jiangxi provinces will be carried out, thanks to the past two years’ efforts.

On February 23, local time, good news came from the World Bank’s headquarters in Washington. It said that the PforR project was approved by the World Bank’s board of directors and received a loan of 200 million USD. The project takes fiscal management as the main line, with compulsory education and rural transportation as the pillars, and capacity building as the basis. It is aiming at helping Hunan’s 8 counties and cities—Pingjiang, Liuyang, Liling, Youxian, Chaling, Guidong, Rucheng, and Yizhang located at the border area of Hunan and Jiangxi to improve governance capability, so as to consolidate poverty alleviation results and promote rural vitalization. Inter-governmental fiscal management will be strengthened, transparency enhanced; result-oriented fiscal policy will be implemented and public services fairer and more efficient.

The project is the first one in Hunan that has been implemented by using the PforR financing instrument. The PforR financing instrument is based on the enhancement of mutual trust between the borrower and the lender, the borrower’s improved institutional mechanism and complete executive capacity. The World Bank chose Hunan to implement the project, which fully demonstrates Hunan’s deep international financial cooperation relationship, excellent work capabilities, and Hunan’s tremendous progress in reform, opening up, and system construction.

Shi Jianhui, director of the Hunan Provincial Department of Finance, said that it took nearly two years to get the approval. Shi added that the implementation of the project is a concrete action to develop Hunan into a hub of reform and opening up in inland regions. It is also an important measure to promote rural vitalization and the modernization of governance capacity and the coordinated development of Hunan and Jiangxi border regions.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn