EU pledges USD 994 mln to Vietnam

VIETNAM: The European Union (EU) pledged to give aid worth 716 million euros (994 million U.S. dollars) to Vietnam in 2009, almost the same with its committed aid amount to the country last year, local newspaper Viet Nam News reported Wednesday.

Almost half of the aid was non-refundable, said Head of the Delegation of European Commission (EC) to Vietnam Sean Doyle.

The EU made such a commitment in the annual report released in Hanoi Tuesday, featuring an overview of the union's development initiatives in Vietnam, the newspaper said.

Doyle also said EC would increase fund to Vietnam by 20 percent to 48 million euros (66 million U.S. dollars) in the period from 2011 to 2013.

Michal Kral, the ambassador from the Czech Republic, which holds the EU Presidency said while the global economic crisis further underlined the need for effective development cooperation, Vietnam remained the forefront of the international aid effectiveness agenda.

Last year, the EU committed 962 million U.S. dollars to Vietnam and disbursed 506 million U.S. dollars in many fields such as education, health, infrastructure, banking and insurance. HANOI, Wednesday, Xinhua