Japan supports Vietnam development: JICA

Akihito told the local media in Hanoi on August 27 that through the current Vietnam visit he saw with his own eyes the efficiency of Japan’s official development assistance (ODA) in Vietnam.

He said Vietnam still needs various development demands that require financial and technical support despite becoming a middle-income country in 2010.

“Though Vietnam has become a middle-income country, I acknowledge that the support principle of Japan to Vietnam is unchanged,” he said.

JICA President Tanaka Akihito appreciated Vietnam's effective use of Japanese ODA

“Japan will continue to help Vietnam achieve the key goal of becoming an industrial and modern country by 2020 and meet the country’s five- and 10-year socio-economic development strategies,” he confirmed.

Akihito noted Vietnam has met many challenges on its path to achieving its goal of industrialisation and infrastructure improvement, plus greater human resource training, policy and institutional reform.

According to him, Vietnam needs a great deal of financial resources for basic infrastructure development, and capital mobilisation from the private sector is a big challenge.

Akihito announced that Japanese ODA priorities will be given to Vietnam in three main pillars: fostering economic development and strengthening competitive ability through infrastructure construction; enhancing state management; and assisting vulnerable groups through local support and health care.

Japan will also help Vietnam reform State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and cope with environmental problems such as climate change and disaster prevention.

Explaining ODA’s role in Japan’s economic foreign policy, the JICA president said given the globalisation process, Japan believes it is necessary to foster friendly relations with other countries in the world, which will in turns have a large impact on Japan.

 “Taking Vietnam as an example, convenient economic development of Vietnam will increase Japanese investment. This not only contributes to boosting Vietnam’s growth, but is also an advantage for Japan’s economy. Infrastructure development through ODA sources will contribute to promoting foreign investment,” said Akihito.

Japan has now become Vietnam’s biggest aid donor over the past 20 years, providing a total of 1,836 billion Yen (approximately US$18.785 billion) to the country. It has supported socio-economic development in Vietnam through infrastructure construction, human resources training, and mechanism and policy reforms.