HÀ NỘI — Eight Vietnamese grassroots projects in the fields of education, health and infrastructure development received about US$642,000 in grants from the Japanese government on Friday.

Representatives of the projects attended a grant assistance signing ceremony with Japanese Ambassador to Việt Nam Umeda Kunio on Friday in Hà Nội.

Four of the eight projects aim to improve educational conditions for students in northern Việt Nam. They will build kitchens and learning buildings for a kindergarten and two elementary schools in Lạng Sơn, Điện Biên and Hòa Bình provinces, and provide training equipment for a vocational welding school in the Hải Phòng economic zone.

Three other projects focus on upgrading two clinics of the Bình Lãnh and Tam Đa communes in the central province of Quảng Nam and northern province of Tuyên Quang respectively, and providing equipment for mobile health check services in central Thừa Thiên-Huế Province.

The last project sets out to upgrade an inter-communal route that passes the Ia Blứ Commune in the Central Highlands Gia Lai Province.

Speaking at the ceremony, Ambassador Kunio said that the variety of the projects in terms of fields and locations will contribute to the comprehensive development of Việt Nam.

“The Japanese government hopes that it will help increase the effectiveness and meaning of social projects at the grassroots level through the Grassroots Grant Assistant Programme in Việt Nam,” he said. “I personally hope that these projects will open up a bright future, not for one but for many people.”

Established in 1992, Japan’s Grassroots Grant Assistance Programme has supported 600 grassroots projects in Việt Nam, with Official Development Assistance (ODA) totaling $50 million.

Two grassroots human security projects in the central Thừa Thiên-Huế and Quảng Bình provinces received US$72,400 from the programme last month. — VNS