Vietnam, Japan enhance ties in irrigation management and climate change adaptation

Vietnam and Japan will strengthen relations in irrigation management through irrigation works, management of natural disasters and adaptation to climate change.

At the signing ceremony for the memorandum of understanding

A memorandum of understanding for the bilateral cooperation was signed by Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong and Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Keiichi Ishii in Hanoi on August 8.

Accordingly, both sides will enhance ties in the fields of irrigation planning; construction, operation and maintenance of irrigation works; prevention and alleviation of natural calamities and response to climate change.

Ahead of the signing, Cuong proposed three issues to the Japanese minister for further research in the cooperation programme between the two countries.

Firstly, he asked the Japanese side to share experience in restructuring the irrigation work for the Mekong Delta region, which was badly affected by climate change in the first six months of the year with droughts, rising sea water and saline intrusion.

Secondly, Cuong called for Japan’s support to protect the country’s 3,260-kilometre coastline, one third of which is being seriously damaged by erosion.

The third issue is the high risk of subsidence in the northern mountainous region of Vietnam, which poses a direct impact on human life as well as socio-economic development in the region’s localities.

For his part, Minister Keiichi Ishii noted that based on the proposal from Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Japanese International Co-operation Agency (JICA) would conduct surveys towards improving Vietnam’s infrastructure, thus helping the country respond to climate change, alleviate natural disasters and deal with the consequences caused by droughts.

He also pledged to help the Vietnamese side address the three issues mentioned by Minister Cuong above.

(Source: NDO)