Latest Foreign Assistance Briefs

- Finland’s Foreign Ministry has funded a EUR500,000 project to help Vietnamese coastal localities adapt to climate change. The project started in the northern central province of Thanh Hoa and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau in late 2011 and is scheduled to be completed by October 2013. It will help appraise moves to deal with climate change and socio-economic development. The impact of populations on the environment and defining threats of risks to underground water resources will also be discussed. Participants hoped to come up with ways of promoting socio-economic development while dealing with impacts on the environment and climate change. The project will give Vietnam the opportunity to set up new linkages to deal with urban geology, planning and surveys of water resources in the future. (Nhan Dan – The People April 19)

- The Honda YES Award 2012, a scholarship for talented engineers and young scientists initiated by Honda Vietnam Co., the Honda Foundation and the National Institute for Science and Technology Policy and Strategy, was launched yesterday in Hanoi. The award, now in its seventh year, will be available to students from Hanoi University of Engineering and Technology under Hanoi National University, the Hanoi University of Technology, the University of Science Hanoi, the University of Transport Hanoi, the HCMC University of Technology and the Danang University of Technology. Organizers will accept registration forms from students until June 30. The Honda Foundation will award scholarships to ten students each year from six universities. Each student will receive $3,000 and a motorbike made by Honda Vietnam and will also have an opportunity to win a $10,000 post-graduate scholarship in Japan. The award aims at developing talent in technology and mechanics. In the past six years, 60 Vietnamese students have received the Honda YES Award.  Four Vietnamese students have won the $10,000 YES PLUS to study in Japan in recent years. (thesaigontimes.vn Apr 18)

- The ORBIS flying hospital is providing free eye check-ups and surgeries for people in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue from April 16-28. The hospital will also train and transfer ophthalmologic technology to local doctors, nurses and technicians working in the field. The ORBIS doctors expect to perform free operations on more than 50 visually-impaired patients during their stay in Thua Thien-Hue, including cataract removals and treating retinal disease caused by diabetes. This is the fourth time the ORBIS flying hospital has come to Hue to provide these services with its team of more than 20 expert ophthalmologists from the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and Canada. All costs for the program and surgeries will be covered by the FedEx group. (vov.vn April 16)