Vietnam's economy has been growing at such a fast pace over the past five years that there are concerns the nation is using too much energy.

One Japanese group has jumped in to help with energy-saving light bulbs.

In mid-October, Jyukankyo Research Institute Inc., a Tokyo-based private think tank, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry signed a memorandum of understanding with the Vietnamese Institute of Energy and a local electrical utility, Power Co. No. 1, to distribute fluorescent light bulbs in the province of Bac Ninh, north of Hanoi.