Vietnam praised long-term and effective cooperation from the government and agencies of the Netherlands in coping with climate change.

Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Khoi Nguyen affirmed the appreciation at the opening ceremony of a workshop on plan to help Mekong delta region coping with climate change, being held in southern Can Tho city on Mar. 29-30.

Netherlands had experiences over hundreds of years in the fight against the sea erosion, which, Nguyen said were very precious for Vietnam , especially the Mekong delta region, which contributes half of the country’s rice output and 90 percent of its total rice export volume.

He stressed that helping the region effectively cope with climate change and sustainably develop would contribute to ensuring both the nation and the world’ food security.

The minister informed that the Party, State and Government have paid much attention to coping with climate change and every ministry, sector and locality is building their own plans on the matter. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment is coordinating with eight cities and provinces, including six Mekong delta provinces most suffering from impacts of climate change, to build an action plan on coping with climate change.

The workshop is part of activities under the memorandum of understanding on cooperation in management of the Mekong delta basin and banks signed last October between the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry of Vietnam and the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management Ministry of the Netherlands .

The workshop focuses on the building of medium and long-term plans for comprehensive development in the region and response to climate change based on Dutch experiences and assistance.

Those plans will be submitted for approval to develop practical, feasible programmes and projects to call for domestic and foreign investment./.