Japan provides aid to Vietnam’s grassroots projects

The aid will be used to purchase OCT machines to serve some three million people suffering from eye diseases in the northern central and central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, said Pham Minh Truong, director of the Hue Eye Hospital, during the ceremony.

Part of Japan’s “Grassroots Grant Assistant Programme” in Vietnam, the signing ceremony took place last week in Hanoi with the participation of Kunio Umeda, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam, and project representatives.

Simon Rea, country director of MAG in Vietnam, said the organisation will use the aid to identify and destroy 2,100 bombs and unexploded ordnances, clearing around 2.6 million square metres of land, as well as paying 81 MAG staff in the Quang Binh Province and organising 128 training workshops on mine clearance for them.

“These projects will not only minimise the threats to the existence and livelihoods of people at grassroots level, but also benefit them greatly,” Ambassador Umeda said.

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