The German government pledged to provide EUR289.2 million in official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam to implement bilateral cooperative development projects in the next two years. The announcement was made at a press conference held by the German Embassy in Hanoi yesterday after representatives from both countries concluded two-day negotiations on development co-operation. Of the sum, EUR28 million will be used for vocational training programs in Vietnam and EUR1 million will be used for flood damage restoration and flood control in the Mekong Delta region. According to Vest Brunhilde from the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, the funding will cover vocational training, environment, especially climate change response, and healthcare. Brunhilde noted that the funding is the second biggest ODA that German has pledged to the developing countries. She also expected to enhance cooperation with Vietnam and committed that Vietnam will be the biggest ODA recipient of Germany in Southeast Asia. Also according to Brunhilde, EUR245 million of the sum will be come from the Energy and Climate Fund established by the German government recently. Germany is one of the leading and regular ODA providers for Vietnam and since 1990, it has provided over $1.5 billion for ODA projects in Vietnam. It ranks the second among European providers of ODA to Vietnam. It has also pledged a EUR283.8 million donation for the country, including EUR26.3 million for technical co-operation and EUR257.5 million for financial co-operation. Metro projects in HCM City are among those receiving ODA from Germany. (Lao dong – Labor Dec 16 p6, Phap luat Vietnam – Vietnam Law Dec 16 p2, Vietnam News Dec 16, vietnamplus.vn Dec 15)
