Japan to Fund Vietnam $10.9M for Food Safety in Agro Sector

The Japanese government will fund Vietnam $10.9 million to help ensure food safety in the agro-forestry-fisheries sector, state media reported. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) inked an agreement on the grant in Hanoi on October 17. The project is expected to help improve food safety of Vietnamese agro-forestry-fisheries products and contribute to the country’s implementation of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measure (SPS Agreement), said JICA Vietnam Chief Representative Tetsuo Konaka. So far, Japan has been the biggest official development assistance (ODA) provider to Vietnam with the pledged investment of $30.5 billion, accounting for one-third of the Southeast Asian nation’s total ODA, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said at the  signing ceremony. (Kinh Te & Do Thi, Kinh Te Do Thi, thuongtruong, netnews, SGGP, Thoi Bao Tai Chinh Viet Nam, nongnghiep, Dan Viet, haiquanonline)