New Zealand Pledges Continued ODA for Vietnam: PM Key

New Zealand will continue to provide official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam in the next years, Prime Minister John Key said at a meeting with his counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung on the margins of the 21st ASEAN Summit in Cambodia on Nov 20.Mr. Key emphasized that New Zealand will continue working with Vietnam in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations process.At the meeting, the two government leaders agreed to conduct the fourth meeting of the Vietnam-New Zealand Joint Committee on economic, scientific and technical cooperation.Mr. Dung spoke positively of New Zealand’s cooperation with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its contributions to regional and international forums.New Zealand started formally granting ODA to Vietnam since 1995. The amount of ODA is increasing. In the 2005-2006 fiscal year, New Zealand granted Vietnam with NZD4.7 million and the total amount of New Zealand’s ODA in 2006-2007 is NZD6.7 million.In the coming 3 fiscal years, the aid amount will increase to more than NZD10 million per year. New Zealand aid concentrates on some priority fields such as: human resource development, agricultural and rural development, health and State management. New Zealand’s ODA projects, though small in size, are fairly effective. (vietnamplus.vn Nov 20, gafin.vn Nov 20, Nong Thon Ngay Nay – Countryside Today Nov 21 p16)