Japan considers Vietnam a leading partner in terms of official development assistance (ODA) and will maintain a high level of aid for the country, Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba said. Mr. Gemba made the statement during talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Binh Minh at the fourth meeting of the Vietnam-Japan Cooperation Committee in Hanoi on July 14. He also noted that ODA will flow mostly into building Vietnam’s market economy, supporting growth, enhancing Vietnam’s competitive edge and coping with natural disasters. Japan aims to comprehensively develop the strategic partnership with Vietnam in various areas, he noted, adding that Japan will help Vietnam draw up and implement an industrial development strategy, he added. For his part, Mr. Minh said that Vietnam considers Japan one of its leading strategic partners. He highly valued the Japanese government’s provision of ODA for Vietnam as well as its support to Vietnam in striving for the goal of industrialization by 2020, even during Japan’s reconstruction process after the twin disasters in March last year. Two sides agreed to effectively implement reached agreements, including those to build the trans-national expressway, Lach Huyen port, Long Thanh airport, Ninh Thuan 2 nuclear power plant, and projects to mine and process rare earth elements. Two countries should cooperate more closely to perfect the investment environment in Vietnam, promote the private-public partnership model, and strengthen cooperation in trade, climate change, judicial affairs and human resource development. Japan, the biggest bilateral ODA provider for Vietnam, has pledged a total of $23 billion in ODA for Vietnam since 1992. In Japanese fiscal year 2011, Japan provided JPY270 billion ($3.4 billion) of ODA to 16 projects in Vietnam, a record high. (Thoi Bao Ngan Hang – Banking Times Jul 16 p2, vietnamplus.vn Jul 15)
