The Japanese government announced a grant of US$1.38 million as non-refundable aid for nine projects in Vietnam on Friday.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in Hanoi, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Takio Yamada said these projects involve a wide range of fields, including health care, education, transport and environment, and will be carried out in a variety of communities across the country.

They comprise a project on cluster bomb disposal in central Quang Binh Province and a project to upgrade rehabilitation and vocational training equipment for northern Thai Binh Province's Association for Agent Orange/dioxin Victims.

Projects on building schools, bridges, irrigation works and clean water supply stations in other provinces are also included in the package.

The scale of each project of non-refundable aid at the grassroots level is not large, but the projects are designed to bring key benefits to the maximum amount of people in these communities, according to the ambassador.

A total of 724 Japanese-funded projects have been implemented since 1992 with a total value of up to $64.5 million, he said.

Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Rinh, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Agent Orange/dioxin Victims (VAVA), thanked the Japanese government for the assistance, saying it has brought practical benefits to many Agent Orange/dioxin victims and their descendants in recent years, the Vietnam News Agency quoted.

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