Latest Foreign Assistance Briefs

- Follow Your Dream Company from the Republic of Korea (RoK) recently agreed to provide Hue City with 10 sets of Light-Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs specifically designed for public street lighting. Once installed, the new bulbs will be monitored and checked in 30 days. Their operation and effectiveness will be assessed as part of a project to replace the city’s current system of public street lighting. The city has a 250-kilometre network of roads illuminated by 8,500 street lights. Using LED bulbs will half the system’s electricity bill. (vietnamplus.vn Feb 24)
- Siemens Vietnam on February 20 donated a $400,000 syngo.phaza Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) solution to Cho Ray Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Dr. Bern Montage, CEO of Imaging and Therapy Systems at Siemens AG said the company understands very well the challenges facing Vietnamese hospitals, and thus hopes that the donated PACS system will support the hospital to optimize its workflow and improve performance significantly. This health care IT solution, composed of hardware and software components plus professional services, will help improve the imaging diagnostic workflows within the hospital. (vietnamplus.vn Feb 21)
- The Danang City’s People Committee has ratified a plan to develop Hoa Vang District through 2016 with total investment of over $1.5 million from the World Vision Organization. The plan will benefit 8 communes of Hoa Vang District, including Hoa Bac, Hoa Lien, Hoa Nhon, Hoa Phong, Hoa Phu, Hoa Ninh, Hoa Khuong and Hoa Son. Accordingly, it aims to improve local people’s living standards, create more jobs, ensure food security, boost agricultural production and micro-credit, care for people’s health, supply clean water and promote environmental sanitation. (Quan Doi Nhan Dan –People’s Army Feb 21)
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have pledged $500,000 in aid for Vietnam’s central city of Danang to implement an information technology (IT) project. The project will be carried out mostly in Hoa Vang district and combined with other IT programs related to the building of new rural areas. Earlier, the foundation financed a total of $50.6 million for a pilot project to improve computer skills and Internet access in three localities in Vietnam. The foundation is the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates, aiming to enhance healthcare services and reduce extreme poverty globally. (Quan Doi Nhan Dan –People’s Army Feb 18)
- The Japanese government has pledged to grant $218,000 to school and hospital projects in two Vietnam’s northern provinces under an agreement signed in Hanoi on Feb 8. Of the sum, $110,000 will be spent on facility equipment in Pho Noi General Hospital in Hung Yen province and the remaining $108,000 on classroom construction at Van Linh Primary School in Phu Tho province. Addressing the signing ceremony, Hideo Suzuki, Charge d’affaires at the Japanese Embassy in Vietnam, hoped that the projects will help improve medical cares and learning environment for local people and students. Earlier, Japan also committed $610,518 in aid to improve access to primary education in three mountainous provinces of Ha Giang, Quang Binh and Quang Ngai. (baotintuc.vn Feb 9)