Germany Pledges EUR1B ODA for Vietnam So Far

Germany has pledged a total EUR1 billion in official development assistance (ODA) for development projects in Vietnam since 1990, the Kinh te Do thi newspaper reported Sept 16.  The information was released at Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung’s reception to Germany’s Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Governor Erwin Sellering in Hanoi on Sept 14.  Dung said that Vietnamese government will give more favorable conditions to German firms to boost investments in trade, investment, maritime and education in Vietnam. At the Consultative Group Meeting held last year, Germany pledged EUR137 million in aid for Vietnam in 2010, accounting for 12.7% of EU’s total aid for the Southeast Asian nation this year. As of Aug 20, German companies invested $809.52 million in 154 projects in total in Vietnam so far, ranking the 24th among foreign investors in the country, the Planning and Investment (MPI) said. (Kinh te & Do thi – Economy & Urban Sept 16 p20)