Vietnam will have to pay an estimated US$222-277 million on its debts to Japan annually, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) chief representative in Vietnam, Motonori Tsuno, told a Monday press conference in Hanoi.
Motonori said Vietnam started paying debts for its soft loans from Japan during the 1992-1999 period in 2009.
Motonori said Japan committed a record $2 billion in Official Development Assistance (ODA) for Vietnam last year. In return, Vietnam paid $210 million on its debts to the East Asian lender.
The Japanese official said the Japanese government had no concern about Vietnam’s ability of paying debts to Japan.
He said a series of Japan-funded infrastructure projects, including bridge, railway, expressway and metro projects, will be implemented this year.
However, ODA pledges for 2010 may not surpass the number of 2009, he said.