(VNF) - The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has signed Japanese ODA loan agreements with the Vietnamese Government to provide up to JPY66.86 billion for five projects.

Since the 1990s, Vietnam has maintained steady economic growth, achieving the national goal of becoming a lower middle income country by 2010 while reducing the poverty ratio from 37.4% in 1998 to 14.2% in 2010. With the tariff barriers within the ASEAN region scheduled to be abolished in 2015 and the national target to achieve industrialization by 2020, Vietnam needs to create a better investment environment through infrastructure development, so that sustainable economic growth can be achieved.

At the same time, Vietnam also needs to address various aspects of its vulnerabilities by enhancing income in rural areas where 70% of the country’s population lives and the poverty rate is higher than urban areas, making improvements to the public health that has been adversely affected by the urbanization process and mitigating and adapting to global warming as Vietnam is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to climate change.

Under these circumstances, the above-mentioned ODA loans will be provided to support the development of infrastructure and industrial human resources, both of which are crucial for enhancing the country’s competitiveness, as well as supporting efforts to overcome vulnerabilities such as urban environment improvement and climate change countermeasures.

The projects are:

* Thai Binh power plant and transmission lines construction project (III) will construct a power plant that uses coal produced in the northern part of Vietnam, as well as the related facilities.

* Second power transmission and distribution network development project will construct power transmission and distribution facilities near industrial complexes in major cities in the nation, thus increasing and stabilizing its power supply.

* The Can Tho University improvement project will strengthen the research and education capacity in the fields of agriculture, fisheries and the environment at the Can Tho University, which is a leading model operating under international standards, thereby supporting the development of the human resources necessary to promote Vietnam’s agriculture and fisheries, and addressing environmental issues in the Mekong Delta region, with support from Japanese universities.

* Ha Long city water environment improvement project (Engineering service) will support the construction of sewer facilities in Ha Long city, home to Ha Long bay which is a registered World Heritage Site.

* Dong Nai province water infrastructure construction project will support the expansion of water supply facilities to meet the demand for industrial and household water in the province, where foreign direct investment including from Japan, is very active. These efforts will contribute to improving of the living and investment environment, which has been degraded by rapid urbanization and industrialization.

In the coming time, JICA will continue to provide active support for Vietnam's development issues, while pursuing integrated implementation of a wide range of ODA assistance, such as ODA loans, technical cooperation and grant assistance./.

( VNF )