2011-01-24 16:50

HANOI, Vietnam - Vietnamese Ministry of Finance and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) signed here Monday three agreements on Japan's providing official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam in the first period of the fiscal year 2011.

The three programs and projects include the ninth Poverty Reduction Support Credit Program, Additional loans for Nhat Tan bridge construction project and Additional loans for Nghi Son Thermal Power Plant construction project.

Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Finance Tran Xuan Ha said at the signing ceremony that the total value of three agreements hits 58. 18 billion Japanese yen (about $740 million). One of these is for poverty reduction program, two others are for infrastructure development area of transportation and energy.

The year 2011 is the 19th consecutive year of Japanese ODA to Vietnam. Japan is Vietnam's development partner that provides the biggest amount of bilateral ODA to Vietnam, said Ha.

Japanese ODA for Vietnam focuses on areas including energy, transportation, harbor, and telecommunication development. These projects contribute a lot to Vietnam's socio-economic development in the past years, said Ha.