The Vietnam-Netherlands Inter-governmental Committee on climate changeadaptation and water management has made public a plan to developVietnam’s Mekong Delta in a safe and sustainable manner.

The committee convened its third meeting in Hanoi on December 16in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh.

The Mekong Delta plan, which was grounded on the Netherlands Deltaplan and has benefited from the close cooperation between theGovernments of Vietnam and the Netherlands, lays down a long-term visiontogether with proposals for the Mekong Delta to adapt to climatechange, manage its water resources and prosper sustainably in the comingtime.

At the meeting, both sides screened andassessed the process of implementing the strategic partnership agreementsigned in 2010, covering university and higher education partnerships,water management and climate change adaptation.

Ahigh-level roundtable conference discussing joint coordination withinternational donors to aid the Mekong Delta’s development was held,seeing the attendance of representatives from the committee, the WorldBank and the Asian Development Bank.

On thesidelines of the meeting, the Delf Technology University of theNetherlands and Vietnam ’s Irrigation University signed anagreement on the establishment of the Vietnam-Netherlands Water andEnvironment Centre (Vinwater).

The centre willprovide services on applicable research and scientific consultancy,alongside boosting technology exchanges and knowledge transfer relatedto water and environmental issues.-VNA