Under the agreement, Sweden pledged to provide Vietnam with a non-refundable aid worth around US $11 million in the period of 2009-11 to finance investment and human resource development in 50 communes of the northern province of Ha Giang and the northern central province of Quang Tri.

 

The project will also assist central agencies in formulating and perfecting policies for sustainable poverty reduction, especially in disadvantageous areas where ethnic minorities are living. 

 

Addressing the signing ceremony, Deputy Minister Cao Viet Sinh affirmed that, in the first phase, the project had helped to reduce poverty rates, better living standards for local residents, and upgrade rural infrastructure in two northern provinces of Ha Giang and Yen Bai as well as the central province of Quang Tri. 

 

The agreement, signed on the 40^th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Việt Nam and Sweden, illustrates the North European country’s further supports for the Southeast Asian partner’s socio-economic development and poverty reduction. /.