Vietnam and France sign framework document on partnership
Vietnam and France have signed a framework document on partnership between the two countries for the 2006-2010 period.
The document was signed in Hanoi on September 15 by Vietnamese Minister of Investment and Planning Vo Hong Phuc and French Minister Delegate for Co-operation, Development and Francophony Brigitte Girardin.
Under the document, France will give priority to Vietnam for co-operation programmes in the Millennium Development Goals-related fields, such as production, infrastructure, agriculture, food security and HIV/AIDS prevention.
France will also give priority to various other areas, including human resource training, science-technology research, culture, French language teaching and state management.
To date, the total loans committed by the French Development Agency to Vietnam have reached EUR 649 million (including private sector financing), of which the official development assistance (ODA) loans account for EUR 592 million.
Statistics released by the French Embassy showed that so far this year, France has been the largest European donor and the second largest donor of ODA for Vietnam, after Japan, with EUR 339.8 million. So far, France has provided Vietnam with around EUR 1.3 billion in ODA for infrastructure development and poverty reduction.
Nhan Dan - September 15, 2006.
Vietnam and France co-operate in epidemics
Representatives of the Pasteur Institutes in Vietnam and the Paris Pasteur Institute signed a co-operation agreement to deal with epidemics in the Southeast Asia in Hanoi on September 15.
The agreement is part of a EUR 5.9 million project to manage epidemics in China, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam between now and 2010 under the sponsorship of the French Development Agency.
The project will help improve the diagnosis and control of emerging epidemics in Southeast Asia, set up a laboratory network, and accelerate co-ordination within the region and with the World Health Organisation (WHO), according to an official in charge of international co-operation of the Paris Pasteur Institute.
The signing ceremony was attended by the Vietnamese Health Minister Tran Thi Trung Chien, the French Minister delegate for Co-operation, Development and Francophony Brigitte Girardin, and French Ambassador to Vietnam Jean Francois Blarel.
Co-ordination between the Paris Pasteur Institutes and three Pasteur Institutes in Vietnam, namely the institutes in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang, is part of the scientific co-operation programmes between the 30 branches of the Paris Pasteur Institute network worldwide.
Nhan Dan - September 15, 2006.
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