Latest Foreign Assistance Briefs

- Panasonic Viet Nam Co., Ltd yesterday awarded three scholarships each worth JPY7.87 million ($100,000) to outstanding Vietnamese graduates to follow three-year masters courses in Japan. The annual Panasonic Scholarship Program, founded in 1998 and implemented in Viet Nam since 2003, aims to enhance co-operative relations between Japan and Asian countries. So far, 22 Vietnamese graduates have received the scholarships, which cover full living costs and tuition fees during the duration of study. (Vietnam News Aug 24)

- Chevron Vietnam and its partners last week donated 615 scholarships worth nearly VND750 million to poor students in Kien Giang, Ca Mau and Can Tho. The scholarships were part of a VND3 billion fund consisting of 860 scholarships and money to upgrade five schools at the above localities this year. This is the fourth year Chevron Vietnam and its partners, including PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corporation (PVEP), a unit of PetroVietnam, Japan’s Mitsui Oil Exploration Co. Ltd. (MOECO) and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production Public Co. Ltd. (PTTEP), have sponsored poor students in the Mekong Delta region. (Vietnam News Aug 22)