(VOVworld)- Japan will provide 7 million USD in aid to help Vietnam country mitigate natural disasters. An agreement to this effect was signed by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat and Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Tanizaki Yasuaki in Hanoi on Wednesday. The fund will be used to purchase the machinery and equipment needed to repair infrastructure damaged by storms and flooding in the Mekong Delta last year. Six to eight storms hit Vietnam each year, causing losses that are equivalent to 1% of the country’s gross domestic product and rendering many families homeless.