Can Tho (VNA) – A training workshop was held inCan Tho city on May 18 to provide provincial and municipal officials withinformation about the Mekong Delta Plan to support the implementation ofResolution 120/NQ-CP on sustainable and climate-resilient development of theMekong Delta.

The event was co-hosted by the Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam, theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Can Tho University,with about 300 domestic and foreign delegates in attendance.

At the workshop, experts highlighted the Mekong Delta asa region that has played a significant role in Vietnam’s socio-economicdevelopment over the past decades, particularly in the fields of agriculture,aquaculture and environmental protection towards sustainable development. The36,000-sq.km delta is the largest agricultural hub of Vietnam, accounting forhalf of the country’s rice output, over 65 percent of aquatic product outputand more than 75 percent of fruit production.

The future of the Mekong Delta is being threatened byclimate change and economic growth, said Vice Rector of Can Tho University TranTrung Tinh.

He cited the fact that the Mekong Delta is one of thefive deltas most vulnerable to climate change in the world and stressed thatimpacts of climate change, unplanned development and overexploitation ofnatural resources is seriously jeopardizing the future of the delta.

The workshop was the last activity of a project titled“Development and implementation of a communication and informationdissemination strategy for the principles and recommendations in the MekongDelta Plan”, an awareness raising campaign for the long-term development visionof the Mekong Delta within the framework of the Strategic PartnershipArrangement on Climate Change Adaption and Water Management between theGovernments of Vietnam and the Netherlands, and funded by the Netherlandsthrough the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

According to Pham Phu Binh, Director of the InternationalCooperation Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment,the Government of Vietnam and international community have been developingvarious strategies and programmes to adapt to and mitigate the impacts ofclimate change, of which the Mekong Delta Plan has been a key initiative.

Written in 2013 within the framework agreement betweenVietnam and the Netherlands, it has become a key reference document and sourceof guidance for the Vietnamese government. The plan recommends principles forsustainable development, taking into account both economic prospects andenvironmental considerations, including climate change.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued the Resolution 120/NQ-CP lastyear, stating that in the context of globalization and internationalintegration, the Mekong Delta has agreat opportunity for development but also faces a great challenge because itis vulnerable to natural changes.

The resolution sets avision by 2100, the Mekong Delta will sustainably, safely and prosperouslydevelop on the foundation of high-quality agriculture in combination withservices, ecological tourism, and industry, especially processing industry,which will help to increase the value and competitiveness of agriculturalproducts. The infrastructure system of the delta will be carefully planned.

To reach the goal, by 2050, the MekongDelta will become a region which has moderately good development and a modernsocial organization level. At that time, income per capita of the delta will behigher than the national average; the proportion of ecological agriculture andhigh-quality applied agriculture will reach 80 per cent.

The resolution alsoprovides numerous comprehensive solutions, such as establishing ecologicalsub-regions for agriculture as economic development and infrastructureconstruction, and setting up a master plan for sustainable development in theMekong Delta while adapting to climate change.-VNA