HÀ NỘI — The Japanese Embassy on Wednesday held an assistant contract signing ceremony for seven projects within the framework of official development assistance from Japan in Việt Nam.

Japanese Ambassador to Việt Nam Kunio Umeda signed the contracts with representatives of the seven projects.

Total funding for the projects is nearly US$600,000.

The projects, which will be conducted in Nam Định, Thanh Hóa, Quảng Nam, Bình Định, Quảng Ngãi, Quảng Ninh and Yên Bái provinces, are related to buying optical treatment equipment, irrigation work, building schools and supplying clean water.

Via the assistance, the Japanese Government hopes to contribute to equal development in Việt Nam. The country’s development has important meaning to Japan, said Ambassador Kunio Umeda.

“I hope that the project will help local residents have a better future,” he said.

Đoàn Ngọc Thanh, director of the Quảng Ninh Centre for Social Diseases Prevention, said that over the years, the centre has received support, however, it did not meet demand of local residents. The assistance from the Japanese Government had great meaning to the province.

“The province will use the funding to buy more equipment and examine and treat poor residents,” he said.

Bùi Ngọc Hùng, deputy director of the Yên Bái Department of Foreign Affairs, said that the funds would be used for fixing irrigation work in Lao Chải Commune, Mù Cang Chải District as it had been damaged by typhoons last year.

The northern province of Yên Bái suffered losses of $81.5 million due to typhoons last year. They destroyed more than 3,400 houses and killed nearly 90 people.

“The province pledges to conduct the project in good time to revive production and stabilise local residents’ lives,” said Hùng. — VNS