Eight local development projects get Japan aid

Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio (right) signs a grant assistance contract with Ngo Thu Ha, principal of Hoang Van Thu elementary school in the northern province of Lang Son (Source: VNA)

Representatives of the projects attended a grant assistance signing ceremony with Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Umeda Kunio on December 1 in Hanoi.

Four of the eight projects aim to improve educational conditions for students in northern Vietnam. They will build kitchens and learning buildings for a kindergarten and two elementary schools in Lang Son, Dien Bien and Hoa Binh provinces, and provide training equipment for a vocational welding school in the Hai Phong economic zone.

Three other projects focus on upgrading two clinics of the Binh Lanh and Tam Da communes in the central province of Quang Nam and northern province of Tuyen Quang respectively, and providing equipment for mobile health check services in central Thua Thien-Hue province.

The last project sets out to upgrade an inter-communal route that passes the Ia Blu Commune in the Central Highlands Gia Lai province.

Speaking at the ceremony, Ambassador Kunio said that the variety of the projects in terms of fields and locations will contribute to the comprehensive development of Vietnam.

“The Japanese government hopes that it will help increase the effectiveness and meaning of social projects at the grassroots level through the Grassroots Grant Assistant Programme in Vietnam,” he said. “I personally hope that these projects will open up a bright future, not for one but for many people.”

Established in 1992, Japan’s Grassroots Grant Assistance Programme has supported 600 grassroots projects in Vietnam, with Official Development Assistance (ODA) totaling US$50 million.

Two grassroots human security projects in the central Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Binh provinces received US$72,400 from the programme last month.