The European Union (EU) has pledged to invest 108 million euro ($132.1 million) in 25 projects to bring energy to remote areas in Vietnam, which are expected to provide 60,000 local residents with access to electricity.

The technical assistance, officially known as the EU-Vietnam Energy Facility, serves to facilitate EU’s Energy Sector Policy Support Program, which aims at enhancing access to sustainable energy in rural Vietnam and contributing to a more sustainable energy sector in the Southeast Asian country.

Accordingly, the fund will be spent on investing in 25 energy projects in Vietnam’s most remote areas, including 23 projects in rural and mountainous regions and two projects on islands in the East Vietnam Sea.

Upon completion, these energy projects are expected to provide access to electricity to approximately 750 underdeveloped villages in these areas, with a total population of 60,000.

Stefano Manservisi, director-general of the European Commission's Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development, joined Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh in Hanoi on Tuesday for the launch of the assistance in Vietnam.

According to Minister Anh, the energy sector of Vietnam was a key factor in maintaining the country’s remarkable socio-economic growth in recent years due to its rapid and sustainable development.

Nevertheless, two percent of the Vietnamese population still live without access to electricity, the minister stressed.

In total, the EU’s indicative grant of 346 million euro ($423 million) to support Vietnam’s energy sector for the 2014-20 period is the largest funding provided by the EU so far to a single country in support of sustainable energy, he noted.

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