The Japanese government will provideVietnam with the biggest ever official development assistance (ODA)loan in 2009, exceeding the record 1.1 billion USD loan in 2007, theJapanese Ambassador told the Vietnam News Agency on Aug. 26.

Without giving a final concrete figure, Ambassador Mitsuo Sakaba saidthat several deals will be signed for ODA packages and the ODA loanwill be provided in two phases: Japan will deposit the ODA into theState Bank of Vietnam and from there it will be distributed to localcommercial banks.

According to Ambassador Sakaba, the two countries plan to sign a deal on a 650 million ODA loan next month.

In addition to a previous loan worth 800 million USD signed in April,by September the total amount of ODA provided by Japan will be muchhigher than the 2007 record.

The Japanese Ambassador explained that besides the usual ODA loan, theJapanese Government has decided to extend its ODA to Vietnam in theform of a stimulus package to aid economic recovery.

Japan’s ODA for Vietnam in 2009 will be primarily focused on thecountry’s major infrastructure projects such as bridges, roads andbuilding airports, said Ambassador Sakaba, adding that some of it willalso be used in other fields such as environmental protection andenergy saving.

According to him, medium and small-scale enterprises, the main targetsof the Vietnamese Government’s economic stimulus packages, will benefitfrom the additional ODA loan as they will help to develop supportingindustries./.