IDA Credits for better health care, R&D in Vietnam
(VOV) -The World Bank on May 31 approved two credits from the International Development Association (IDA) worth US$250 million to Vietnam for two healthcare projects in the country.
Of the total, US$150 million will go to the Northeast and Red River Delta Regions Health System Support (NORRED) Project, which aims to provide better health services for 15 million people, especially children and women.
It will help strengthen the capacity of provincial and district hospitals to deliver better quality hospital services as an alternative to patients seeking care in Hanoi, and will reduce the financial barriers, especially by supporting the expansion of the national health insurance system to include households above the poverty line.
The Fostering Innovation through Research, Science and Technology (FIRST) Project, which received funding of US$100 million, will support science, technology and innovation in Vietnam.
The Project’s main beneficiaries are R&D institutions and innovative technology enterprises that invest in R&D.
Spin-offs and start-up enterprises that are incubated from R&D institutions or universities will also benefit.
It will support the establishment of a public-private partnership research laboratory in the R&D zone of the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park.