The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will assist Vietnam’s southern province of Tien Giang in tapping its potential to develop community-based tourism, state media reported. The assistance is part of a three-year project on heritage tourism aiming to encourage the involvement of the community in sustainable development in Vietnam. Dong Hoa Hiep village in Tien Giang is a typical traditional craft village and a unique eco-tourism destination with old age houses and many crisscrossed canals running through beautiful landscapes, JICA said. JICA will help the village improve basic infrastructure such as roads and ports, repair and refurbish ancient houses. More than VND3.4 billion will be invested in restoring an old age house with unique architectural features and building two special roads for tourism with a total length of 738m. JICA will also assist local people in improving the quality of tourist products and services, and promoting tourism and coordination between Dong Hoa Hiep and travel agents to attract more visitors. Tien Giang is one of the three localities that JICA has chosen to implement the 2011-2014 project. The two others are ancient Duong Lam village in Son Tay town, Hanoi; Phuoc Tich village in Phong Dien district, Thua Thien-Hue province. (www.vov.vn [1] July 17)
