An official of Japanese Embassy to Vietnam has said Vietnam continues to be the priority receiver of Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the 2008 fiscal year despite its current inflation problem.

The Embassy’s Minister Counselor Daisuke Matsunaga was quoted by a local newspaper as saying he hasn’t witnessed any negative inflation impact on the efficiency of ODA projects in Vietnam, adding that the Japanese Government will maintain its current support scheme.

Regarding the status of Japanese ODA in Vietnam, the counselor said the majority of the country’s projects made progress in 2007.

For this reason, Vietnam will continue to receive the top priority in Japan’s ODA provision despite the world economic power tightening aid to other countries, he said.

Japan committed over US$1.1 billion in ODA to Vietnam in the 2008 fiscal year at the donors’ conference in late 2007, an increase of 20 percent year on year.

The aid continues to focus on infrastructure construction, human resource development and education.

Matsunaga said that his Government would lengthen the list of projects in the coming years to encompass energy, environment andurban traffic sectors.

Japan has also earmarked $20 million of their ODA to support Central Highlands’ development within the Development Triangle area comprising Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia territories.

Non-refundable aid for smaller scale projects will gain more attention, said the Japanese diplomat.

He expressed approval of recent counter-inflation measures taken by the Vietnamese government, saying that there is no cause for concern if gross domestic product growth reaches between 7 and 8 percent this year, even if that figure is lower than the initial target.

Source: VNA