Latest Foreign Assistance Briefs

- Four hundred students from seven south-eastern provinces and Hanoi have received Binh Duong Province's "Sharing the Dream" scholarships worth a total of VND1.2 billion ($58,000). This annual program, funded by Tuoi Tre newspaper and Thai business group SCG since 2007, also saw awards of VND4 million each given to 23 highly dedicated teachers. The organizers will also give special VND4 million scholarships to previous "Sharing the Dream" scholarship winners who have been accepted to engineering, marketing, business administration, and accountancy degrees at local universities this year. (Vietnam News Jul 13)

- 400 students from 7 provinces in South Eastern provinces and Hanoi gathered in Binh Duong to receive the “Sharing the Dream” scholarship, an annual event held on July 11th by SCG, one of the leading conglomerates in ASEAN, together with the Tuoi Tre newspaper and provincial Youth Union in its 6th anniversary. Apart from 400 scholarships granted this year, SCG also gives award to teachers with high expertise, morality and dedication to teaching. (qdnd.vn Jul 12)

- Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Vietnam Office and Hanoi Industrial Vocational College will organize the closing ceremony for the LAN upgrade project on July 11th. Total budget for the project is $59,664, of which KOICA supported $24,000, via volunteer Ji Tae Hwan rendering service at the college, to install the main line, to sheath the cable, and to replace the current copper cable by advanced technology optical cable network. This comprehensive upgrade will increase the speed of the local network at the college, enhance the data and information exchange amongst lecturers and students and promote the college’s computerization. Moreover, KOICA is scheduled next week to finish the final procedures for completing the project on learning environment improvement at Korean Studies Department of Hong Bang University International in Ho Chi Minh City. This project is carried out by volunteer Kim Hyung Su to modernize the classroom, to improve the administrative-support environment and to computerize the library of the Korean Studies Department. KOICA grants $25,000 to support the university to implement this project. Within the first six months of 2012, KOICA has granted more than $193,000 in total to help educational and health care institutions of Vietnam to improve its facilities through projects proposed and carried out by its young volunteers. (Quan Doi Nhan Dan –People’s Army July 9)

- The Italian Red Cross will grant EUR50,000 to a project on improving capacity in healthcare for mothers in Vietnam’s southern province of Long An. An agreement on the aid was signed between the Vietnam Red Cross (VRC) and the Italian Red Cross in Hanoi on July 6. This is the first international cooperation project in the 2012-2017 term of VRC. The one-year project will benefit women at the age of 15-49 in Duc Hoa district, which has the highest rate of those suffering from diseases related to reproductive health in the province. The project will provide consultancy and early diagnosis and treatment for local women in a bid to lower the rate of women catching reproductive health-related diseases among beneficiaries. In 2010-2011, the Italian Red Cross also donated EUR100,000 for the two southern provinces of Tien Giang and Binh Phuoc to carry out a project on capacity building and health care for mothers and children. (Nhan Dan – The People July 7)