The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Vietnam with loans worth $190 million to build Hanoi University of Science and Technology of (USTH) – a state-of-the-art institution. An agreement to this effect was signed in Hanoi on Nov 10 by Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Nguyen Van Binh and ADB Country Director for Vietnam Tomoyuki Kimura. ADB loans include $170 million from ordinary capital sources, and $20 million from the hard terms facility of its concessional Asian Development Fund. The government of France will complement the ADB assistance by extending about EUR100 million over ten years to help develop the university, while the government of Vietnam will provide $23 million. The government of Japan, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency, is supporting the development of Hoa Lac High Tech Park, where USTH will be built. The project will establish a new model university focused on international standard teaching and research in science and technology with stronger industry linkages, Tomoyuki Kimura said at the signing ceremony. The university is expected to contribute higher quality workforce to facilitate Vietnam’s progress through medium-income status and underpins the country’s move to more intensive industrialization. Though Vietnam has spent much money on science and technology programs, including training manpower in the field over the past years, it is still in dire need of skilled workforce. The country is in redundancy of unskilled workers, but lack of skilled ones. (Ha Noi Moi – New Hanoi Nov 11 p4)
