Japan has no worries about Vietnam’s capacity to pay its official development assistance (ODA) debts, said a representative of the Japanese government at a press briefing in Hanoi on Jan. 25.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Chief Representative Motononi Tsuno said Vietnam owes an ODA debt of 20-25 billion yen (220-270 million USD) every year to Japan.
“Paying Japanese ODA debts is not a big problem for Vietnam given the current economic potential and growth of the country,” said Tsuno. “It will not cause any difficulty or have any great impact on Vietnam’s economic development.”
According to the JICA chief representative, “Japan believes in Vietnam’s debt clearance capacity”--a sentiment shared by other credit institutions and international banks such as the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
These institutions, he said, have continued to increase their loan commitments to Vietnam despite the impact of the world economic crisis. However, Japanese ODA in 2010 is not likely to surpass the 2009 record high—but only because the Vietnamese economy is forecast to grow faster than it did last year.
Japan pledged a record ODA commitment of 202.3 billion Yen (2.2 billion USD) to Vietnam in 2009, including 500 million USD in emergency aid to deal with the economic crisis.
“I personally think that Vietnam will need no more emergency aid packages in 2010,” Tsuno said.
In 2009, 121 billion Yen of Japanese ODA was disbursed and Vietnam has already managed to pay nearly 21 billion Yen back to Japan.
Since resuming ODA support to Vietnam in 1992, Japan has focused its assistance on developing rural infrastructure, including water supply systems, irrigation networks and electricity grids, and improving the knowledge of advanced agricultural practices among people living in remote areas.
Last year, many large projects funded by Japanese ODA were implemented, including the Hanoi railway project, the first phase of the East-West avenue, a project on improving the river network in Ho Chi Minh City, the Kim Lien underpass in Hanoi and the water environment improvement project in Hanoi and Hai Phong.
Large projects will continue to be sped up in 2010. JICA and Vietnam are expected to sign a loan agreement for several new projects this March, such as a new terminal for the Noi Bai international airport, the Noi Bai-Nhat Tan highway, the Lach Huyen sea port in Hai Phong, etc.
Japan has also pledged to support Vietnam in dealing with climate change through investments in clean energy./.
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Chief Representative Motononi Tsuno said Vietnam owes an ODA debt of 20-25 billion yen (220-270 million USD) every year to Japan.
“Paying Japanese ODA debts is not a big problem for Vietnam given the current economic potential and growth of the country,” said Tsuno. “It will not cause any difficulty or have any great impact on Vietnam’s economic development.”
According to the JICA chief representative, “Japan believes in Vietnam’s debt clearance capacity”--a sentiment shared by other credit institutions and international banks such as the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
These institutions, he said, have continued to increase their loan commitments to Vietnam despite the impact of the world economic crisis. However, Japanese ODA in 2010 is not likely to surpass the 2009 record high—but only because the Vietnamese economy is forecast to grow faster than it did last year.
Japan pledged a record ODA commitment of 202.3 billion Yen (2.2 billion USD) to Vietnam in 2009, including 500 million USD in emergency aid to deal with the economic crisis.
“I personally think that Vietnam will need no more emergency aid packages in 2010,” Tsuno said.
In 2009, 121 billion Yen of Japanese ODA was disbursed and Vietnam has already managed to pay nearly 21 billion Yen back to Japan.
Since resuming ODA support to Vietnam in 1992, Japan has focused its assistance on developing rural infrastructure, including water supply systems, irrigation networks and electricity grids, and improving the knowledge of advanced agricultural practices among people living in remote areas.
Last year, many large projects funded by Japanese ODA were implemented, including the Hanoi railway project, the first phase of the East-West avenue, a project on improving the river network in Ho Chi Minh City, the Kim Lien underpass in Hanoi and the water environment improvement project in Hanoi and Hai Phong.
Large projects will continue to be sped up in 2010. JICA and Vietnam are expected to sign a loan agreement for several new projects this March, such as a new terminal for the Noi Bai international airport, the Noi Bai-Nhat Tan highway, the Lach Huyen sea port in Hai Phong, etc.
Japan has also pledged to support Vietnam in dealing with climate change through investments in clean energy./.
