Vietnam - Korea: Strengthening cooperation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, developing carbon markets

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Cong Thanh received Permanent Deputy Minister of Environment of the Republic of Korea Lim Sang Jun on the sidelines of the Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum 2023

At the beginning of the reception, Mr. Le Cong Thanh, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam, was very pleased to meet Mr. Lim Sang Jun, Permanent Deputy Minister of Environment of Korea at the Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum 2023 - an important international event.

Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh said: Ho Chi Minh City is the locality with the most developed economy in Vietnam. This year's Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum with the theme "Green Growth - Journey towards zero emissions" has demonstrated the awareness of the Government , localities, businesses and people about green growth.

According to Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh, Korea has a highly developed economy and has been oriented towards green growth for many years. Certainly, the Korean Ministry of Environment is the “driver” of this green development process. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment also wishes to learn from the experiences and cooperate with the Korean Ministry of Environment.

Permanent Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Environment of Korea Lim Sang Jun also thanked Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Cong Thanh for sharing his views; at the same time, he said: The Ministry of Environment of Korea is willing to share its experiences in terms of policies, especially recently the regulations and rules on environmental impact valuation, which is an issue that the Vietnamese Government and Vietnamese enterprises are very interested in. As with the theme of the Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum in 2023, Korea also hopes to continue to have opportunities to cooperate and share with Vietnam.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Cong Thanh presents a souvenir to Permanent Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Environment of Korea Lim Sang Jun

Also at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Cong Thanh affirmed that in the past time, Vietnam has received a lot of cooperation from Korea in the process of building the Law on Environmental Protection in 2020, many experiences of Korea have also been studied, absorbed and included in the Law. Currently, the process of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the world is happening rapidly, drastically and strongly, requiring each country to soon have a policy on reducing carbon emissions.

“We also hope that the Korean Ministry of Environment will continue to cooperate and support Vietnam with experience in carbon credit management and development of domestic carbon markets and bilateral cooperation on international carbon markets,” Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh suggested.

Regarding this issue, Mr. Lim Sang Jun, Permanent Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Environment of Korea said: Korea will make every effort to support and cooperate with the Vietnamese Government in issues related to greenhouse gas emission reduction and carbon market. In recent times, there have been a number of projects invested by Korean enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City, notably the Bac Sai Gon 2 wastewater treatment project. This is an important project of Ho Chi Minh City. If this project is successful, it will be a model of cooperation between the two countries in the near future.

Also at the meeting, Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh shared: The Mekong Delta is a special region of Vietnam, this is one of the 5 largest deltas in the world that has been and is being most severely affected by rising sea levels; at the same time, this region has many other environmental issues that need attention and handling. In the past, this region has had many businesses investing and Korean citizens living and working.

Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh welcomed Korean enterprises for their interest and investment in the environmental sector. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment will pay close attention and, if possible, create favorable conditions for Korean enterprises to operate effectively in Vietnam.

Permanent Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Korea Lim Sang Jun informed: Currently, the Korean Government has a policy to support Vietnam in training and improving human resources by providing scholarships for Vietnamese civil servants and public employees to study at the graduate level in the fields that Vietnam needs. Therefore, Korea is willing to support the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment in providing scholarships, including tuition and living expenses for training and developing human resources.

Permanent Deputy Minister of the Korean Ministry of Environment Lim Sang Jun also said: It is expected that in October, the Minister of Environment of Korea and the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam will meet, there will certainly be many cooperation and connection contents in the near future between the two countries in the field of natural resources and environment.

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