Vietnam is among the first eight countries eligible for assistance from a new trust fund sponsored by Japan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to support the adoption of advanced low-carbon technologies in developing countries.

The ADB on June 25 announced the establishment of the trust fund which receives a grant of 1.8 billion JPY (about 17.65 million USD) from the Government of Japan .

In a press release, the ADB said Japan’s Minister of the Environment Nobuteru Ishihara and ADB President Takehiko Nakao have s ign ed a Letter of Intent for Cooperation on Environmental Issues, which will include cooperation for effective implementation of the Japan Fund for the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JFJCM) .

The ADB quoted ADB President Takehiko Nakao as saying at the signing ceremony on June 25 that t he establishment of the JFJCM is a timely step to help meet the demands of the Asia and Pacific region for sustainable low-carbon infrastructure.

The fund will provide grant finance to reduce the cost of advanced low-carbon technologies, such as those related to waste-to-energy schemes and smart grids, which often have initial high investment costs and long cost recovery periods.

With the establishment of the JFJCM, ADB is the first multilateral development bank to have a trust fund for supporting GHG reduction projects under the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) .

The eligible countries of the JFJCM are developing member countries of ADB that have signed memoranda of understanding for the JCM with the Government of Japan. To date, eight DMCs are eligible—Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Maldives, Mongolia, Palau, and Vietnam. The list of eligible DMCs is expected to expand.-VNA