Hanoi  - Japan is to resume its aid to Vietnam, after cutting it in December due to a corruption scandal, a Vietnamese minister said Monday.

Minister of Planning and Investment Vo Hong Phuc, who is on a week-long visit to Japan, told Vietnam Television Monday that Japan had decided to restore official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam for the rest of 2009.

"Japan's resumption of ODA to Vietnam will contribute to boosting foreign investment and trade relations between the two countries," Phuc said.

Vietnam Television reported that Japan had committed 83.2 billion Yen (900 million dollars) in ODA to Vietnam this year, making it the country's top aid donor.

Japan surprised other countries at an annual conference of aid donors in Hanoi in December when it announced it was suspending assistance to Vietnam.

Japan's ambassador said Vietnam had not cooperated sufficiently in investigating a million-dollar kickback scandal on a Japanese-funded highway project involving Vietnamese transportation officials and the Japanese consulting firm Pacific Consultants International (PCI).

Several PCI officials are serving prison terms in Japan over the scandal. On February 11, the top Vietnamese official involved, Huynh Ngoc Si, was arrested along with his deputy. dpa