Transportation infrastructure: Key Japanese ODA projects in Vietnam

Upgrading transportation infrastructure

Although Vietnam has become a middle-income country, JICA (an implementation agency of Japanese ODA in Vietnam) has still strengthened its ODA commitment for Vietnam, particularly in the field of transportation infrastructure.

According to JICA Vietnam Chief  Mori Mutsuya, it is worth mentioning a series of representative and key projects, creating a new facade for Vietnam with the imprint of JICA in the past years.

Road infrastructure projects carrying meaningful social and welfare purposes have also been executed such as Can Tho bridge; traffic safety on National Highways of the North, renovation of bridges on National Highway No. 1, project on credit for the transportation sector to reinforce weak bridges on national highways in order to gradually erase old ones that are potentially unsafe for traffic.

In recent years, JICA has also providing loans to build a series of highways such as: Hanoi - Thai Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh city - Dau Giay, Da Nang - Quang Ngai, Ben Luc - Long Thanh in order to significantly improve the national road network, enhance connectivity and regular exchange of goods between Vietnam and countries in the ASEAN region, contributing to the socio-economic development of the country.

Distinctively, a number of important infrastructure projects such as Nhat Tan bridge and roads connecting the bridge to Noi Bai International Airport, connecting the center of Hanoi with Northern provinces and the North Thang Long, Dong Anh, Co Loa, Gia Lam and Yen Vien Industrial Parks, the ring road 2, shortening the route from the capital center to Noi Bai International Airport, have completed.

 

In aviation, it is worthy to mention two outstanding projects being the international terminal at Tan Son Nhat airport - a vital international gateway of Vietnam and an aviation transportation hub of Southern Vietnam, completed and put into operation in 2007; and the T2 Terminal of Noi Bai airport, completed in late 2014.

Specifically, in 2015, the three ODA projects in transport sector of Vietnam which create the gateway of Hanoi, namely T2 terminal of Noi Bai airport, Nhat Tan bridge (Vietnam-Japan Friendship bridge) and the connecting road between Nhat Tan bridge and Noi Bai airport, are given the award of JICA President for its meaningful and great contribution to the development of socio-economic of Hanoi in particular, and Vietnam in general, thus deepening the beauty of Vietnam in foreigners’ eyes.

Renovated railway bridges on the Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh city route have increased volume of rail-transporting passengers and goods, enhanced train safety, and reduced traveling time on the route from 36 to 30 hours at present.

Regarding sea ports, JICA has provided support to gateway ports such as renovation of Hai Phong port, expansion of Cai Lan port in the northern region and Tien Sa - Da Nang port in the Central. In the Southern region, the completed construction of Cai Mep - Thi Vai international port together with connecting infrastructure system has enhanced ability to attract FDIs and created opportunities for regional development expansion, contributing to the economic growth not only of the South but also the entire country.

Agriculture

Although Vietnam's agriculture sector has great potential for development, many barriers still exist, among those is the low level of safety and processing, with over 90% of products are sold unprocessed, not being able create high added values.

JICA Vietnam Chief said during an exclusive interview to the Communist Party of Vietnam Online Newspaper that by implementing the technical cooperation project on cultivation management capacity building for improvement of crop yields and quality (July 2010 ~ June 2014), JICA has proposed the use and application of "Basic GAP" standards (BasicGAP) for simplification by selecting the most basic criteria of current VietGAP standards, reducing input costs for farmers. In July 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development signed a decision issuing "Guidelines in implementing basic VietGap criteria for production of vegetables".

A medium and long-term vision of building food value chains from agricultural production to processing, circulation and consumption of products, through partnerships between the Government and private investors, has been promulgated in August 2015.

Within the medium and long term vision of the Vietnam - Japan Agricultural Cooperation Dialogue, solutions for training of high-level human resources are also a targeted objective and such training in the fields of agriculture and environment will be conducted at Can Tho University.

Urbanization

Traffic congestion in urban areas has become more serious so the inaugurations of urban railways are currently the most awaited event for the future. In Ho Chi Minh city, JICA is presently carrying out the construction of Metro line 1, from Ben Thanh to Suoi Tien (both elevated and underground). While in Hanoi, it is now preparing designs and bidding procurement for Line 1, from Yen Vien to Ngoc Hoi and line 2, from Nam Thang Long to Tran Hung Dao.

Additionally, JICA is supporting the strengthening of state management functions for the urban railway systems being built in Hanoi through the cooperation with Tokyo Metro, and in Ho Chi Minh city through the cooperation with Osaka Municipal Transportation Bureau, to develop and establish urban rail operator Corporations.

Mentioning restructuring of SOEs and the banking system, Mr  Mori Mutsuya shared making use of Japan's rich experiences in these areas, from March 2014, JICA has implemented two technical projects: building capacity in corporate financial management to carry out restructuring of State-owned Enterprises and supporting restructuring of Vietnam banking system, thus actively supporting Vietnam making timely adjustments to directional changes in economic and financial policies.

Launched on April 1st, 2014, the new customs clearance system (VNACCS/VCIS) contributes to the rapid and efficient improvement of customs clearance procedures for imports and exports that are increasing rapidly due to high level of foreign direct investments in Vietnam after joining the World Trade Organization. It also helps promote a better business environment in the country.

By June 2014, 100% of customs departments nationwide have adopted this system. Results of surveying 500 enterprises conducted by the General Department of Customs showed that 95% of enterprises found this system to be satisfactory.

Improvement of social life

By setting up a hot line for prevention of human trafficking (18001567), this project provided telephone counseling on preventive measures against human trafficking and integration support for victims.

To enhance health care for mothers and children, from February 14th, 2011 to December 13th, 2014, JICA carried out the "Nationwide project popularizing monitoring books of maternal and child health, piloted in four provinces Dien Bien, Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa and An Giang." Putting into use Books for monitoring maternal and child health has achieved results in raising awareness of pregnancy and breastfeeding, increasing the number of prenatal visits, and improving communication between health care staffs and women in pregnancy.

The year 2015 marked the 20th anniversary of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers Program. There have been more than 500 volunteers who have come to Vietnam in total, and currently there are about more than 50 Japanese volunteers working nationwide in the fields of Japanese teaching, health, sports, local development, and education.

The very unique feature of Japanese volunteers is that they speak Vietnamese, understand Vietnamese culture and stay with Vietnamese people. It’s the feature that makes the cooperation activities of Japanese volunteers really effective, helpful and appreciated a lot by the Vietnamese.

In future, the cooperation will focus on fields such as supporting the people with disabilities, function rehabilitation, supporting industries, and tourism as well.

Direction of JICA cooperation in Vietnam from 2016

The Vietnamese Government is putting its strength into infrastructure construction in order to level up the country’s socio-economic development. So that, Japan will continue to support infrastructure construction by providing ODA through the equal combination of both hard component (financial assistance) and soft component (technical cooperation).

A new form of ODA cooperation to promote advanced technologies and products of Japanese small and medium enterprises in the development process of developing countries is being designed. These projects are now being executed globally, across all countries having JICA offices.

From 2012 to date, there have been 80 such projects carried out in Vietnam, the highest figure in the world.

Agriculture, health, environmental issues, waste and waste water treatment, energy saving, and education are prioritized fields.

Since the signing of the "Japan-Vietnam Joint Statement" in September 2015, the Japan-Vietnam strategic partnership has been strengthened and developed to a new level where “the two countries are strategic partners, for peace and prosperity of Asia”; also, at the same time, the expectations of Japan, the top bilateral donor, to Vietnam is growing high.

The 10-year Socio-Economic Development Strategy (2011-2020) of Vietnam places a focus on institutional system completion, human resource development and modern infrastructure system development. Towards the goal of basically become an industrialized nation by 2020, as outlined in the strategy, Japan has and will continue its assistance to Vietnam for its achievement of sustainable growth through enhancing international competitiveness, and supporting vulnerable areas to create an equal society and country./.