Japan capital stimulates Vietnam economy

Grants and official development assistance (ODA) loans of the Japanese Government have played a crucial role in fueling Vietnam’s economic development, especially in the Mekong Delta, heard a conference in Can Tho City on April 18.

At the conference “Meeting Japan-the Mekong Delta,” Luu Quang Khanh, director of the Foreign Economic Relations Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, expressed appreciation of Japan’s support for the Mekong Delta and Vietnam as a whole.

The Japanese Government has offered Vietnam grants totaling US$1.6 billion for healthcare, customs, agriculture and rural development projects, with Bach Mai Hospital, Hue Central Hospital and fresh water supply projects among the beneficiaries.

Japan has also pledged to provide Vietnam with ODA loans totaling some US$28 billion over the past 25 years. Such loans have gone to energy, transport, agriculture and rural development, post and telecommunications, water supply and sewerage and urban infrastructure projects, Khanh said.

Some key projects receiving Japanese ODA loans are roads No. 5, 10 and 18, bridges on National Highway 1, Tan Son Nhat International Airport, Pha Lai and Phu My thermal power plants, Bai Chay, Thanh Tri and Can Tho bridges, Cai Mep-Thi Vai and Danang ports, East-West Highway and Hanoi railway station.

At the meeting on April 18, Tran Van Thong, director of the Department of Transport of Soc Trang Province, said loans of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have helped the province develop infrastructure, especially in the transport sector.

However, several traffic facilities in the province remain underdeveloped, particularly a section of National Highway 60 in the locality. Despite the support of the Ministry of Transport and the Government, the Dai Ngai bridge project is in dire need of capital which has been estimated at VND8 trillion (US$351.2 million).

Therefore, Thong asked for the assistance of central agencies and JICA to promptly implement the project, helping connect Soc Trang, Bac Lieu and Ca Mau provinces with HCMC.

Khanh of the Ministry of Planning and Investment said the Government has proposed Japan invest in the project. JICA and consulting firms are keen on the project and have worked with the Ministry of Transport on this matter.

Regarding Japan’s financial support Vietnam in the coming time, Khanh said the two countries will ink agreements to use Japan’s ODA loans in three main spheres. These comprise promoting Vietnam’s economic development and competitiveness, enhancing its capability to mitigate negative impacts in the economic development process, and administrative reform in Vietnam.

As for traffic infrastructure projects, the Japanese Government expressed interest in getting involved in the Long Thanh International Airport project and urban railways in HCMC and Hanoi.

The two countries have clinched 53 memoranda of understanding and agreements, with six of them benefiting the Mekong Delta region, said Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio.

At the conference, some memoranda of understanding on cooperation were inked between the Vietnam-Japan Friendship Associations of Can Tho and Sakai, between the An Giang Biotechnology Center and Japan’s Hagihara Industries Inc. and Daimasa Engineering Company, and between Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific and the Department of Foreign Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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