Hanoi (VNA) – The Japan InternationalCooperation Agency (JICA) Vietnam has disbursed some 10.8 billion JPY (75million USD) worth of ODA in Vietnam, exclusive of funding for the privatesector, between April 2021 and March 2022, according to Chief Representative ShimizuAkira.

JICA has granted Vietnam 5 million USD in non-refundableaid, he told a press conference held in Hanoi on October 12 to review JICAVietnam’s activities in the first half of the fiscal year 2022 (from April 1 toSeptember 30).

JICA has helped strengthen Vietnam’s capacity in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and responding to communicable diseases by donating 850 million JPYworth of medical supplies, including ECMO machines; and transferring technologyand providing key equipment to a new Biosafety Level-3 Laboratory (BSL-3) of HoChi Minh City’s Pasteur Institute, worth more than 200 million JPY in total.

The Japanese agency has also provided ODA for HCM City to implementthe second phase of a water environment improvement project in the city. Theproject aims to improve local environment through wastewater treatment capacitybuilding and flooding damage control.

It has signed a loan agreement of up to 25 million USD witha private Vietnamese company for an onshore wind power project in Quang Tri, ShimizuAkira said, adding all the 51 carriages to be used on HCM City’s Metro Line No.1 are manufactured by Japan.

He said that JICA will further contribute to infrastructuredevelopment, a growth driver of Vietnam, and he expects Vietnam to continueusing ODA efficiently.

It plans to offer the Vietnam – Japan University technicalsupport and funding to launch new doctoral training programmes and establish anew campus in Hoa Lac in 2023, hoping to raise the number of the university’sstudents to 6,000.

It will cooperate with three centrally-run Vietnamesehospitals, namely Bach Mai Hospital (Hanoi), Hue Central Hospital (ThuaThien-Hue), and Cho Ray Hospital (HCM City), to provide remote training for localmedical systems as part of JICA's Initiative for Global Health and Medicine. Additionally, it will enhance partnership with Japan’s privateenterprises, non-governmental organisations and universities to help Vietnamimprove rehabilitation and nursing care services, given that the country isfacing new challenges like population ageing.

JICA will assist Vietnam in achieving carbon neutrality by2050 by financing new solar and wind power projects, developing an eco-industrialpark in Ba Ria-Vung Tau, accelerating circular economy and responding to climatechange, he said./.