Promoting cooperation in hydrometeorological forecasting between Vietnam and Japan

On the afternoon of December 2, at the Government Headquarters, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha received a delegation of Japanese experts in the field of hydrometeorological forecasting led by Mr. Hiroshi Fukada, former Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha discussed technologies and solutions related to hydrometeorological forecasting that Vietnam is interested in and hopes Japan will support and transfer - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

Pleased to meet again with Mr. Hiroshi Fukada, the Deputy Prime Minister affirmed that the Vietnam-Japan relationship has made qualitative progress and is at its best stage with a high level of political trust. The two countries have just celebrated the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations and upgraded to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the world (2023). The exchange of delegations at all levels, especially high-level ones, takes place regularly and closely through all channels. Japan maintains its position as Vietnam's leading important economic partner.

Currently, Vietnam and Japan have had many bilateral and multilateral cooperation frameworks related to just transition, in particular, the Asia Zero Emissions Community (AZEC) Initiative has been shifting towards carbon neutrality... The two sides have set out many cooperation orientations and contents, actively implemented them, and achieved many positive results.

Japan has paid attention and has a lot of experience in adapting to climate change, in which the Meteorological and Hydrological sector has done a very good job of forecasting and early warning of natural disasters. The Deputy Prime Minister hopes that Japan will transfer technology and solutions and applications to adapt to climate change, especially in meteorology, landslides, flash floods, etc.

Appreciating the cooperation and pilot projects in Vietnam in these fields, the Deputy Prime Minister hoped that the former Ambassador and Japanese experts and enterprises would research and implement more specific projects within the framework of bilateral cooperation so that the two governments could propose cooperation priorities in the coming time.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the Vietnam Meteorological and Hydrological Sector has affirmed its position in the Southeast Asian region when it was selected by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as the Southeast Asia Regional Forecast Support Center for hazardous weather (Hanoi RFSC Center) and the Southeast Asia Regional Forecast Support Center for flash flood warning.

Along with radar equipment, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that the most important are monitoring methods, software solutions, digital transformation applications, artificial intelligence... to make accurate forecasts, especially the time and amount of rainfall in each area.

Taking note of the proposals, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinate with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Weathernews Inc. to pilot the installation of additional radars in Vietnam; from there, research techniques and build a cooperation mechanism to promote hydrometeorological cooperation between the two sides.

The Deputy Prime Minister proposed that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development coordinate with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Weathernews Inc. to pilot the installation of additional weather forecast radars in Vietnam - Photo: VGP/Minh Khoi

Thanking the Deputy Prime Minister for taking the time to meet him, Mr. Hiroshi Fukada shared the similarities between Vietnam and Japan when facing natural disasters every year, so it is necessary to build a solid infrastructure system, have measures to respond to climate change, especially the work of capturing and forecasting information quickly and accurately to promptly issue warnings.

At the meeting, the leader of Weathernews Inc. said that through the WMO's voluntary cooperation program, the Japanese Government and this unit have supported Vietnam with radar equipment to improve the ability to monitor, forecast, and warn of natural disasters early, especially storms, heavy rains, floods, flash floods, etc., contributing to reducing natural disaster risks to the lives and economic activities of Vietnamese people.

In the coming time, Weathernews Inc. hopes to continue to strengthen cooperation and develop content based on radar data in Vietnam, contributing to improving forecast accuracy.

Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/thuc-day-hop-tac-ve-du-bao-khi-tuong-thuy-van-giua-viet-nam-va-nhat-ban-384014.html