The US has pledged to provide US$150 million to improve healthcare education and the environment in Mekong sub-region countries including Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos later this year.
The commitment was announced at a meeting between the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Foreign Ministers of the four countries on the fringes of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in the Thai province of Phuket on July 23.
Of the sum, US$7 million will be used for a programme that will help to reduce the impacts of climate change in Mekong sub-region countries. US$130 million will be spent on health projects to prevent and treat diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.
The remaining US$16 million will be used on educational projects.
The US government is planning to provide an additional US$15 million for a food security programme which will be implemented in the targeted countries in 2010.
VOVNews/VNA