The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will provide aid worth nearly 220 million USD to the central province of Nghe An to upgrade its northern irrigation system.

On April 5, the authorities of Nghe An held a working session with JICA’s chief representative Motonori Tsuno on the five-year project, which aims to upgrade and restore the entire irrigation system, ensuring enough water for more than 27,600ha of cultivated land, or 29 percent of the province’s total agricultural acreage.

According to Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Ho Duc Phoc, this key official development assistance (ODA) project is the largest ever in the locality.

The project will not only benefit the agricultural sector but also the livelihoods of the province’s residents and industry in the region, Phoc said, pledging to do his utmost to cooperate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and JICA to realise the project.

JICA experts carried out field surveys of the 75-year-old irrigation system, and approved the funding to support the province’s socio-economic development, employment, and climate change mitigation.

The project is part of an ODA package to assist Vietnam in several prioritised areas inked by the two governments in March.-VNA