Japan will continue to provide official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam to help the country carry out socio-economic development projects, especially infrastructure and energy projects, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said. Noda made the statement at a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Tan Dung during talks in Tokyo on April 21. Japan will also further assist Vietnam to implement poverty reduction and climate change adaptation programs, formulate and carry out national industrialization strategy until 2020, and develop the country’s East-West Economic Corridor, he added. Noda proposed that both countries work closely to speed up projects on scientific cities and ecological parks in Vietnam. PM Dung appreciated Japan’s ODA provision for Vietnam, noting that despite its ongoing national reconstruction efforts, Japan committed a record high of ODA to Vietnam in the 2011 fiscal year. Vietnam creates the best possible conditions for Japanese businesses to operate efficiently in the country, Dung noted, encouraging Japanese firms to take part in infrastructure construction projects in the form of Public-Private Partnership (PPP). He also proposed that Japan further help Vietnam develop support industries and specialized industrial complexes in the northern city of Haiphong and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The 2012 marks the 20th consecutive year the Japanese government has granted ODA to Vietnam with a total pledged capital of $21 billion to date. (vietnamplus.vn Apr 20, vovnews.vn Apr 20)
