Speaking at anannual press conference in Hanoi on April 1, he revealed that hisagency will work with Vietnam in 13 new technical cooperationprojects and hold 83 training courses in the 2015 fiscal year, focusingmainly on infrastructure and urban transport development, social affairsand the enhancement of global competitiveness.
Vietnam is currently the largest recipient of official developmentassistance (ODA) from Japan , he said, adding that JICA is currentlyimplementing over 150 technical and loan cooperation projects in theSoutheast Asian country.
Vietnam and Japanhave signed a loan agreement of 36.3 billion JPY (302.4 million USD) forthe second phase of construction of the Thai Binh thermal power plantand the power transmission line.
Most recently, theVietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Japanese Embassyin Vietnam signed a diplomatic note to provide 112.4 billion JPY(936.4 million USD) in ODA for seven socio-economic development projectsin Vietnam .
The two countries also inked loanagreements for the fifth phase of the climate change adaptationprogramme and the second phase of construction of the Ben Luc-Long Thanhsection of the north-south highway, worth a combined 46.3 billion JPY(385.7 million USD).
In 2015, JICA aims to sign ODAloan agreements worth at least 165.6 billion JPY (1.4 billion USD) withVietnam , the JICA official said, adding that whether this can bedone depends on the Vietnamese side, which has cumbersome administrativeprocedures.
Social affairs are also a target ofJICA activities in Vietnam , he said, noting that his agency hassupported Vietnam to set up a free hotline for human traffickingprevention and victim support as well as designing health handbooks formothers and children, narrowing gaps in healthcare and improvingpreventive health services.
In addition, JICA willhelp Vietnam increase its competitiveness in anticipation of theestablishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and itsparticipation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).
The agency will focus on projects to expand partnership betweenVietnamese and Japanese small- and medium-sized enterprises; reformingState-run businesses and managing bad debts; amending the Law oncompetitiveness; and assisting with the enforcement of the Law onintellectual property.
In 2014, JICA helped Vietnamcomplete three major projects: the T2 passenger terminal at the NoiBai international airport; the Nhat Tan Bridge ; and the Vo NguyenGiap street, all of which contributed to reducing the travel time fromthe Noi Bai airport to downtown Hanoi by 20 minutes.
It also helped the Vietnamese Government to issue Good AgriculturalPractices (GAP) standards to improve the income of farmers and developsafe and sustainable crop production.-VNA