Vietnam and Japan are expected to sign some additional deals worth $1.2 billion, raising total official development assistance (ODA) pledged by the Japanese government $2.4 billion in the 2011 fiscal year ending in March 2012, a local official said. The Lao Dong newspaper cited Ambassador Nguyen Phu Binh as saying if the agreements reached, the $2.4 billion ODA will be the biggest sum pledged by the Japanese government to Vietnam so far. Binh also noted that the Japanese government committed to provide ODA sustainably and stably as Vietnam will complete its targets to become an industrialized nation by 2020, especially focusing on infrastructure. Japan, which is the biggest bilateral donor in Vietnam, has pledged to provide JPY148.5 billion ($1.9 billion) in ODA for Vietnam in the 2012 fiscal year, much higher than the figure of $1.64 billion in 2010. Vietnam is one of the five countries that have received the biggest ODA capital in the world. However, disbursement rate of ODA in the communist country is lower than the world’s average. The ODA is one of the key sources of dollars for Vietnam, after exports, foreign direct investment (FDI) and remittances. However, experts said that Vietnam should reduce the use of ODA to improve efficiency and avoid a debt burden in the future. (Lao dong – Labor Dec 16 p1)
