U.S. Supports Vietnam in Developing Clean Energy

The U.S.-Vietnam Clean Energy Conference opened on April 14 in Ho Chi Minh City to promote green energy sustainability in Vietnam, state media reported. The conference, part of the continuing celebration of the 20-year anniversary of the normalization of U.S.-Vietnam bilateral relations, is co-organized by the U.S. Consulate General in HCM City, the state-run Vietnam Investment Review newspaper and sponsored by General Electric (GE). Themed “Smart Solutions for Vietnam”, the event attracted the participation from over 150 government officials, business leaders, investors and experts. It aims to create an open dialogue for participants to discuss challenges, benefits and solutions in pursuing green energy. As the sponsor for the event, GE shared their innovative technologies and solutions to wind power, biomass and waste energies. The company has also provided technological support to other renewable energy projects in the country. Energy is a major challenge for Vietnam’s development. With an annual growth of 15% over the past 10 years and expected annual average growth of 12% for the next decade, energy demand should increase fourfold in 2030 in comparison to 2005, experts said. Vietnamese authorities have realized the strategic importance of developing renewable energy and have built a national energy development plan for the 2011-2020 period, which aims to increase the portion of renewable energy in total electricity production from 5.6% in 2020 to 9.4% in 2030. (vir.com.vn May 14, nhandan.org.vn May 14)