Hanoi (VNA)ܫ – Strengthening the capacity of water environment management in river basins lies at the heart of a project supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), heard a workshop in Hanoi on March 22.

The event was jointly held by the General Department of Environment under the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Japanese agency. The project aims to enhance building and implementing the ministry’s legal policies to improve the water environment at Vietnamese river basins, said Nguyen Hoang Phuong Lan from the Vietnam Environment Administration (VEA). JICA experts presented the details of the project, such as pilot activities and project management and evaluation. Representatives from the Departments of Natural Resources and Environment in Ho Chi Minh City and Bac Giang province shared their experience and challenges in the coordination mechanism required to protect the water environment in river basins. The planning framework to implement the project between 2016 and 2018 at central and local levels on the Cau and Dong Nai rivers also drew the panels’ attention. Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan said the workshop enables participants to exchange solutions to cope with any problems arising during the implementation of the project, as well as create a premise for long-term cooperation in environment management, including the water environment at river basins. He pointed to the polluted rivers in Vietnam , especially those running through urban areas, industrial parks and craft villages. Seriously contaminated water has been recorded at the basins of the Cau, Nhue, Day and Dong Nai rivers. The Party and State have paid due attention to water environmental protection at river basins by promulgating policies, mechanisms, and normative legal documents in the field, including the use of international assistance. The technical cooperation agreement between the Vietnamese and Japanese Governments signed in October 1998 is a vivid demonstration, he noted. Under the signed agreement, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Japanese agency have jointly investigated, analysed and evaluated the real situation in water environment management of rivers in Vietnam.-VNA