Vietnam Ministry, WB’s Working Group Join Hands in Water Management

Officials from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the 2030 Water Resources Group (WRG2030) from the World Bank (WB) had a meeting in Hanoi on August 8 to discuss cooperation in water pollution management, state media reported. At the meeting, WRG2030 representatives reviewed past collaboration with Vietnam, especially consultations for the MoNRE and relevant agencies to build Vietnam’s water management report in May 2019. The report includes measures for four river basins namely Red River, Thai Binh River, Dong Nai River, and Mekong River, along with seven recommendations. Following the report, the group has worked with the MoNRE’s Vietnam Environment Administration on outlining priorities in water pollution management with a focus on public-private partnership and digital platform application. The group has also held a roundtable discussion with firms in the textile-footwear on input water and discharged water. In the coming time, WRG2030 will form a working group on water management in urban areas and industrial zones. WRG2030 hoped that the MoNRE will work with relevant agencies to prepare for the establishment of the group. Deputy Minister Vo Tuan Nhan, in reply, lauded WRG2030’s research on Vietnam’s water pollution. He asked the Vietnam Environment Administration to work with the group to build a cooperation program by 2030. According to the MoNRE, Vietnam has set a target that all industrial zones and processing zones will have concentrated water treatment systems by the end of 2019. Currently, 228 out of 283 zones have had such systems, equal to 88%. (Bao Tai Nguyen Moi Truong, baotainguyenmoitruong)