The Government of the Netherlands will provide 5.9 million Euros for a project on developing Vietnam's telecommunication fibre optic infrastructure in the 2005-2006 period. 

An agreement to this effect was signed in Hanoi on April 28 by Vietnamese Minister of Industry Hoang Trung Hai and Dutch Ambassador to Vietnam Andre Haspels. 

The remaining 8.1 million Euros will be mobilised through commercial loans.

The Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) corporation's project, funded by the Dutch Government through its Development-Related Export Transactions Programme, aims to expand the scope of the EVN's telecommunication network to meet the demand for information in rural and poor areas in Vietnam. The project will also contribute to improving Vietnam's inter-provincial fibre optic network.

The EVN will soon start the project in Hai Duong, Ninh Binh, Nghe An and Gia Lai provinces.