Vietnam's Japanese ODA tops $674M

By Duc Minh November 28, 2023 | 03:54 pm PT

A train for the HCMC's metro line No.1 arrives in the city from Japan in May, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Minh

Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) in Vietnam could top JPY100 billion (US$674 million) this fiscal year for the first time since 2017, according to a joint statement.

The statement was issued after a meeting between Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday.

Japan’s fiscal year begins on April 1 and ends on March 31 of the next year.

The two heads of state agreed that Japanese ODA has been a major contributor to Vietnam’s socioeconomic development for the last 30 years.

Both sides also reaffirmed their commitment to establishing a cooperation mechanism to resolve problems facing ODA projects in Vietnam, including technical cooperation programs.

Vietnam and Japan will continue to push for more collaboration between the two countries in the form of more ODA projects focusing on property, digital transformation, green transformation, climate change alleviation, and healthcare.

New ODA funds provided by Japan in 2023 have reportedly come with simpler and more flexible distribution procedures.

Thuong and Kishida both stressed the necessity of expediting large economic development projects funded by Japanese ODA and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The two leaders agreed that such projects should be mapped out as soon as possible. The statesmen encouraged both nations to assemble teams of experts from both countries to guide and hasten such plans.

Japan has always been Vietnam’s top ODA partner. By the end of the 2020 fiscal year, the East Asian economic powerhouse had lent Vietnam a total of JPY2,821.2 billion (US$27.5 billion) in ODA.