Experts propose using ODA to develop support industries Experts have suggested that ODA (official development assistance) should be used to fund the support industry in Vietnam.     The Vietnam-Japan Economic Forum (VJEF) Nguyen Hoang, chair and CEO of N&G Corporation, was quoted as saying at the Vietnam-Japan Economic Forum (VJEF) that ODA and Japanese government preferential loans should be used to develop the support industries, one of the top priorities for Vietnam. “With preferential interest rates and long-term loans, Vietnamese small- and medium- enterprises would be able to satisfy the high requirements set by Japanese -invested enterprises in Vietnam,” he said. “Vietnamese enterprises would have to spend big money to buy machines and equipment in accordance with Japanese standards,” he said. Vu Tien Loc, chair of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), has also proposed to allocate more ODA capital to human resource and support industry development. “This will help create a steadfast position in the cooperation between Vietnamese and Japanese enterprises,” Loc said, explaining that cooperation has so far focused on infrastructure development. If the idea is applied in reality, ODA coverage would be expanded. In mid-June, local newspapers reported that the Ministry of Construction (MOC) asked the government to develop housing projects for low income earners with preferential loans and ODA capital. The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) quoted MOC’s Deputy Minister Pham Hong Ha as saying that the ministry sent a dispatch to the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), seeking to use ODA loans for houses for low-income earners in some localities in Vietnam. MoC in late 2014 received a letter from KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) which informed the agency it was considering the project and may add it on the list for funding in 2016. However, the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) had disagreed with the proposal to use ODA capital for the project, saying that housing projects for the poor are not listed as one of the priority fields for ODA and government preferential loans. In principle, ODA is not commercial aid and is not reserved for commercial activities. At that time, Le Hoang Chau, chair of the HCM City Real Estate Association, said o\in local newspapers that in the long term it was reasonable to use a part of ODA for developing houses for low-income earners. Though the government then had launched a VND30 trillion bailout to help thaw the frozen real estate market, Chau said, Vietnam would still need ODA as long-term capital to develop housing projects. Dat Viet