On October 9th, during their participation in the Vietnamese Prime Minister's delegation attending the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits in Vientiane, the delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment , led by Mr. Do Duc Duy, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, paid a visit and held working meetings with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
Accompanying Minister Do Duc Duy in the delegation were Mr. Le Ngoc Tuan, Director of the International Cooperation Department; Ms. Dang Thanh Mai, Deputy Director General of the General Department of Meteorology and Hydrology; Mr. Phan Tuan Hung, Director of the Legal Department; Mr. Tang The Cuong, Director of the Climate Change Department; Mr. Hoang Van Thuc, Director of the Environmental Pollution Control Department; Mr. Chau Tran Vinh, Director of the Water Resources Management Department; Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Linh, Chief of the Office of the Vietnam Mekong River Commission; Mr. Le Van Huu, Deputy Director of the Department of Nature Conservation and Biodiversity; Mr. Vu The Hung, Secretary to the Minister, along with several other professional staff members.
Attending the meeting and working session with the delegation from the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment were Comrade Bounkham Vorachit, Member of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, along with leaders of specialized units from Laos.
Opening up new opportunities for cooperation for the mutual benefit of the nations and peoples of both countries.
During the meeting, Minister Bounkham Vorachit and officials from the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment extended a warm and fraternal welcome to the Vietnamese delegation.
Minister Bounkham Vorachit affirmed that Vietnam and Laos are two neighboring countries with a traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation, and this relationship is the foundation for cooperation between the two Ministries.
Minister Do Duc Duy expressed his sincere gratitude for the warm welcome from the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. On this occasion, the Minister also thanked Minister Bounkham Vorachit for his concern, visits, and encouragement after Typhoon Yagi caused serious damage to many localities in Vietnam.
Minister Do Duc Duy stated that, while serving as Secretary and Chairman of Yen Bai province, he had the opportunity to interact and work with leaders from Vientiane and Xay Nha Bu Ly provinces to exchange experiences and cooperate in development with Yen Bai province. This contributed to deepening the traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the Party, State, and people of the two countries.
During the meeting, Minister Do Duc Duy and Minister Bounkham Vorachit expressed their pleasure that over the years, the Ministries of Natural Resources and Environment of the two countries have made efforts to promote cooperation and achieved many important results, contributing to the unique and unparalleled relationship between the Parties, States and Peoples of the two countries.
However, given the international and regional contexts, and the specific conditions of each country, there is still significant potential for cooperation between the two sides in the field of resources and environment.
Therefore, at the meeting, Minister Do Duc Duy and Minister Bounkham Vorachit discussed and objectively and comprehensively assessed the results of cooperation between the two Ministries in the past period, and also discussed directions for cooperation in the coming period, ensuring they are consistent with the global and regional context and the specific conditions of each country.
The two Ministers agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding after their bilateral meeting and expect that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding will contribute to strengthening comprehensive cooperation between the two Ministries. At the same time, it will open up new opportunities for cooperation with specific initiatives and solutions on resource management, environmental protection, and climate change response for the goal of sustainable development, for the common benefit of both States and peoples.
With a spirit of cooperation and strong determination, Minister Do Duc Duy and Minister Bounkham Vorachit expressed confidence that both sides would achieve positive results.
Agreement on 7 areas of cooperation
At the meeting, leaders from both sides reviewed some outstanding areas of cooperation over the past period and proposed to the two ministers directions for cooperation in each field.
Regarding water resources, the two Ministers proposed that in the coming period, the two Ministries will continue to strengthen cooperation and exchange experiences on: integrated management, protection, and sustainable development of water resources; human resource training; scientific research; sharing operational data of transboundary water exploitation and utilization projects; and prevention, mitigation, and remediation of water-related natural disasters, in order to contribute to ensuring the safety and security of water resources in transboundary river basins.
Regarding cooperation within the Mekong River Commission, the Vietnam-Laos Mekong River Commission has closely coordinated with other member countries of the International Mekong River Commission to carry out tasks related to consultation, implementation of commitments, coordinated monitoring of the actual impacts of hydropower projects, as well as discussions at forums of the International Mekong River Commission and other related Mekong cooperation mechanisms.
In his capacity as the Standing Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Mekong River Commission and a member of the Vietnam Council of the International Mekong River Commission, Minister Do Duc Duy highly appreciated the active cooperation of the Lao side in the consultation process, implementation of consultation conclusions, information sharing, and operation of hydropower projects on the Mekong River tributaries.
This demonstrates Laos' sense of responsibility and cooperation for the sustainable development of the basin. Therefore, Minister Do Duc Duy hopes that the Lao people will continue to cooperate actively with Vietnam and other basin countries in this field, aiming to minimize negative impacts on water resources, especially in extreme weather situations and emergency natural disasters.
Minister Bounkham Vorachit stated that he would pay attention to and direct the Lao Mekong River Commission to uphold the tradition of good cooperation with the Vietnamese Mekong River Commission, further strengthen solidarity and close coordination in implementing joint activities of the International Mekong River Commission and related cooperation mechanisms.
Regarding the environment and biodiversity, in the coming period, the two Ministries will study cooperation mechanisms suitable to both sides to promote activities in the environmental field in a more substantive and effective way. Vietnam is ready to share experiences on institutional development for solid waste management, household waste management, and the National Action Partnership Program on Plastics, etc.
Regarding biodiversity conservation, Vietnam and Laos are two countries with rich biodiversity resources. The two Ministers proposed that both sides continue to cooperate, strengthen capacity, and build institutional policies; cooperate in the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands in the Mekong River basin. They also proposed strengthening cooperation in nature conservation and biodiversity in nature reserves adjacent to the border between the two countries, especially in the conservation of endangered, rare, and migratory species. Furthermore, they suggested cooperation and sharing experiences in implementing the goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
On this occasion, Minister Do Duc Duy requested the Lao side to support the nomination of three Vietnamese nature reserves (Dong Nai Nature and Culture Reserve, Dong Nai province; Pu Mat National Park, Nghe An province; and Xuan Thuy National Park, Nam Dinh province) as ASEAN Heritage Parks (AHP), which is expected to be submitted to the ASEAN National Working Group on Nature Conservation and Biodiversity in early 2025.
Regarding climate change, Minister Do Duc Duy and Minister Bounkham Vorachit proposed further strengthening cooperation between the two Ministries, continuing to exchange information, coordinating closely and supporting each other within regional and international cooperation mechanisms and frameworks, especially within the ASEAN and United Nations frameworks on climate change; jointly exchanging and sharing experiences, cooperating in adapting to climate change; reducing greenhouse gas emissions, implementing a just energy transition, and aiming for net zero emissions.
Regarding meteorology and hydrology, the two Ministers will direct the meteorological and hydrological agencies of both countries to effectively implement the Memorandum of Understanding, focusing on exchanging and sharing surface meteorological and hydrological observation data, weather radar data, lightning location data, and surface observation station data, in order to support national and provincial-level weather forecasting and disaster warning; sharing information on hazardous weather forecasts and disaster warnings before and during disasters to minimize damage to people and property…
Regarding land management, the two sides initially exchanged information and experience in policy development starting in 2019 during consultations on the draft amendments to the Land Law of the Lao National Assembly.
On this occasion, Minister Do Duc Duy informed the meeting that Vietnam's Land Law of 2024, passed by the National Assembly in January 2024 and effective from August 1, 2024, includes many new and groundbreaking policies to unleash land resources and serve socio-economic development.
Minister Do Duc Duy stated that he is ready to share with his colleagues from the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment his experience in drafting land laws in general and on issues of particular concern.
Minister Bounkham Vorachit expressed his desire for Vietnam to send expert delegations from its Ministry to work with specialized units of the Lao Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to discuss more detailed plans and exchange experiences in land management between the two countries.
Regarding training, Vietnam currently has three training institutions in the field of natural resources and environment, and in the past, has trained two Lao students under scholarships from the agreement between the two countries.
The two Ministers proposed to jointly develop short-term and long-term training program proposals and to work with the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training and the Lao Ministry of Education and Sports through a Protocol on training cooperation between the two Governments.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the two Ministers requested that the specialized agencies of the two Ministries proactively work together to continue coordinating and effectively implementing existing cooperation activities; at the same time, they should research and agree on proposals for activities of mutual interest in the coming period to effectively implement the contents related to the functions and tasks of the two Ministries of the two countries, as well as effectively implement the Strategic Cooperation Agreement between the two Governments in the coming period.
Minister Bounkham Vorachit highly appreciated the results achieved at this meeting, which provides a basis for the units of the two Ministries to implement cooperative activities in the future in a substantive and effective manner, in line with the international and regional context, specific conditions, and priorities of the two countries regarding sustainable development.
Minister Do Duc Duy expressed his confidence that, with a spirit of cooperation and strong determination, both sides will continue to achieve positive results, contributing to the sustainable development of both Vietnam and Laos. Today's meeting is not only an opportunity for both sides to exchange ideas and learn from each other, but also a chance to further strengthen the traditional friendship, special solidarity, and comprehensive cooperation between the Parties, States, and Peoples of the two countries.
Source: https://baotainguyenmoitruong.vn/viet-nam-lao-hop-tac-trien-khai-07-nhom-nhiem-vu-trong-linh-vuc-tai-nguyen-va-moi-truong-381392.html
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