Vietnam’s southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh City expects that the European Union (EU) will continue providing the city with official development assistance (ODA) in coming years, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Hoang Quan said. Mr. Quan made the statement at a recent meeting with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. The city will use the funding for projects on public services, poverty reduction, education and climate change, he noted, adding that these projects are very significant for Vietnam in general and HCM City in particular.HCM City now has 450 representative offices of EU companies and 452 projects invested by EU countries with total investment of over $3.5 billion. In 2011, the city imported more than EUR1.5 billion worth of goods from the EU while its exports to this market exceeded EUR2 billion.Mr. Rompuy expressed his pleasure to visit Vietnam and HCM City, one of the most dynamic cities in the country as well as in the region, affirming that the EU wishes to further contribute to the development of the Southeast Asian country.The EU is the second largest ODA provider to Vietnam, with $12 billion committed over the 1996-2011 period. It pledged to provide EUR745.3 million worth of ODA for Vietnam in 2012, or 13.24% of the total pledged by international donors for the country. (nhandan.com.vn Nov 2, thesaigontimes.vn Nov 2)
