Provincial People's Committee works with JICA Vietnam delegation on new projects
(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of January 12, under the chairmanship of comrade Nguyen Van De, member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, Nghe An province worked with the JICA delegation in Vietnam.
On the JICA side, there were Mr. Shishido Kenichi - Senior Assistant to the President of JICA Headquarters; Mr. Kubo Yoshitomo, Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office; Mr. Sugita Shohei, Senior Advisor of JICA.
Projects are implemented on schedule and effectively.
At the beginning of the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van De informed: Currently, in Nghe An province, in the field of Agriculture alone, 03 projects supported by JICA have been and are being implemented, including: Technical cooperation project on agricultural development planning (ended in 2019), Project on Restoration and Sustainable Management of Protective Forests in Nghe An Province (JICA2 Project is about to end); Project on Restoration and Upgrade of the Northern Irrigation System (loan project is being implemented). Up to now, the basic projects have been and are being implemented on schedule.
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Leaders of Nghe An province and related departments and branches worked with the delegation. Photo: Phu Huong |
In particular, in addition to the Technical Cooperation Project on Agricultural Development Planning that ended in 2019, the remaining projects such as: The project to restore and upgrade the Northern Nghe An Irrigation System is expected to be completed in September 2023; The project to restore and sustainably manage protective forests in Nghe An province has basically completed the contents, achieved the project's objectives and is completing the procedures to close the project.
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JICA representative in Vietnam at the working session. Photo: Phu Huong |
At the meeting, Nghe An also proposed a number of issues including: Approving investment research for the Project to Restore and Upgrade the Southern Nghe An Irrigation System, with an estimated total investment of VND 3,500 billion, in the period of 2023-2027 (According to the content of the Official Note Ref: 20/ICD-MARD dated March 9, 2021 proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development); supporting the early completion of the SDGs Business Verification Survey Project with the private sector to develop the value chain for Sanuki garlic in Nghe An province; Supporting Japanese enterprises to come to Nghe An to learn and cooperate in investment, especially in the agricultural sector.
Continue to accompany and promote bilateral cooperation
Regarding the proposals of Nghe An, Mr. Shishido Kenichi stated: Regarding the Project to Restore and Upgrade the Southern Nghe An Irrigation System, JICA will consider a number of related conditions to plan the investment; with the Project to develop the value chain for Sanuki garlic, JICA highly appreciates the project's activities, especially in terms of providing livelihoods and income for people in the project area and commits to support the project to be implemented as planned, and will continue to spread information so that Japanese enterprises know about Vietnam in general and Nghe An in particular, thereby supporting Japanese companies to implement other projects in Nghe An.
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Nghe An province presented souvenirs to the working delegation. Photo: Phu Huong |
The Japanese side also proposed that Nghe An province continue to create conditions to send Nghe An workers to work in Japan...
“Currently, JICA Vietnam is planning to coordinate with the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture to connect Vietnamese workers to do internships at Japanese livestock and crop production facilities that are similar to localities in Vietnam as well as suitable to the wishes and needs of workers, so that when they return to work, they can take advantage of that knowledge at a very low cost,” Mr. Shishido Kenichi informed.
Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Phung Thanh Vinh, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, stated: The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An highly appreciates the fact that recently, in addition to supporting the construction of technical infrastructure for production, JICA has gradually shifted to projects supporting livelihood development for people in the project area.
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Harvesting Japanese white garlic in Ky Son. Photo: Nghe An Newspaper |
However, Nghe An still needs JICA to continue supporting the construction of infrastructure projects to promote agricultural production development. On the sector's side, we will pay close attention and create the best conditions for projects to be implemented as soon as possible, on schedule and with the best quality. For example, the Northern Irrigation System project, in the context of the epidemic, fluctuating material prices, and complex and unpredictable weather, the project is still basically implemented on schedule and is expected to be completed on schedule in August this year.
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Construction of upgrading the main canal system of Do Luong bara. Photo: Van Truong |
At the end of the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van De emphasized: In the past, JICA projects in Nghe An have been very effective. Hopefully, in the coming time, JICA will spread information about Vietnam in general and Nghe An in particular so that the two sides can continue to have stronger and more effective relationships; accompany and support Nghe An province in the next programs and projects. These cooperations are even more meaningful when in September 2023, Vietnam and Japan will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations.