WASHINGTON (VNS)— The World Bank has approved financing from the International Development Association (IDA) worth US$250 million for Viet Nam to support a health system improvement project and research, science and technology innovation.
The difference between IDA and other sources of financing is that IDA has a component of grant and loan, and it targets the very poor and women and children.
Of the total, $150 million would go to the NORRED Project, which aimed to provide better health services for 15 million people, especially children and women, and by increasing the efficiency and equity in the use of hospital services in 13 provinces of the Northeast and Red River Delta regions, the World Bank said in a press release.
The project would help strengthen the capacity of provincial and district hospitals to deliver better quality hospital services as an alternative to patients seeking care in Ha Noi, and it would reduce financial barriers, especially by supporting the expansion of the national health insurance system to include households above the poverty line.
The FIRST Project, which received funding of $100 million, would support science, technology and innovation in Viet Nam by designing and piloting science, technology and innovation policies, enhancing the effectiveness of research and development (R&D) institutions, and encouraging the development of innovative technology enterprises.
The project's main beneficiaries were R&D institutions and innovative technology enterprises that invested in R&D. Spin-offs and start-up enterprises that were incubated from R&D institutions or universities would also benefit.
The project would also support the establishment of a public-private partnership research laboratory in the R&D zone of the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park in Ha Noi, the bank said. .
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via VNTimes http://www.vntimes.info/2013/06/vn-to-get-250m-development-funds-vntimes.html
