Vietnam And Laos Will Establish River Management Cooperation

People sat on the boat while waiting for customers at the Cai Rang floating market in the Mekong river, in Can Tho, Vietnam, Wednesday (5/5/2021). (Between/Reuters/Thanh Hue/WSJ/sa)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Environment of Vietnam and Laos on Tuesday held a workshop to launch bilateral projects on water and environmental security in the MEMBER and Neun-C rivers with a budget of US$3 million or Rp46.5 billion.

The Director General of the Department of Water Resources Management (DWRM), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) Laos, Inthavy Akkharath, said the project was in line with the national priorities and ambitions of the new law on the management of water resources.

"The two governments are very supportive of this project and will cooperate with IUCN, FAO and other partners in Vietnam and Laos to address the impact of climate change and improve natural resource management in the two rivers," Akkharath said as reported by VNA, Tuesday..

The project with the theme Building Water and Environment Security in the Cross-Border Watersheds Ma and Neun-C as well as the Related Coastal Areas, Vietnam and Laos', aims to strengthen the management of integrated water resources and ecosystem health in the Neun-C and M Way rivers.

The workshop which took place in Hanoi, Vietnam introduced a project and discussed input on the project design and its implementation plans. This includes bringing together many central and provincial government officials from Vietnam and Laos, non-governmental organizations, local and international communities, to other stakeholders.

The five-year project has a total budget of USD 8 million (IDR 124 billion) funded by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) and about USD 3 million will be distributed to support the implementation of pilot projects at the MZ and Neun-C watersheds.

In general, the bilateral project aims to ensure that Vietnam and Laos can manage freshwater resources and the health of the ecosystem in the M Wayu and Neun-C watersheds as well as cross-border coastal areas by creating an environment that supports cross-border cooperation and action.

In remarks at the opening of the workshop, Representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at Vit Nam, R\"emi Nono Womdim, said that the project to improve water and environmental security in the M19 and Neun-C rivers will advance four better things, namely better production, better nutrition, better environment, and better life.

The project will be carried out with five expected results. First, the achievement of consensus between countries regarding the main cross-border problems. Second, increasing water security, environmental sustainability, and forecastability both in the river area and coastal areas.

The third goal is to strengthen joint action, reverse land degradation trends in both rivers and the final goal of increasing the capacity of relevant national entities, and share project and learning experiences.