Bangkok (VNA) –Vietnam has shared its policies to cope with arising environment challenges facing Asia-Pacific countries at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment which took place in Bangkok, Thailand, from September 5-8.

In his speech at the ministerial-level session, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tran Hong Ha said Vietnam is striving to cope with rapid urbanization, pressure from enormous demand for natural resources for development, climate change and its impacts such as drought, rising sea level and salt water intrusion.

The minister presented Vietnam's policies and measures to address the problems and reiterated Vietnam’s resolve and commitment to environmental protection.

The Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment is the first of its kind held by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the UN Environment.

More than 40 countries sent their delegations to the event, which focused on reviewing the implementation of outcomes of the 6th Ministerial Conference on Environment and Development (MECD-6) and providing guidance on the UN-ESCAP’s plan of actions on the environment and development in the coming years.

Under the theme “Towards a resource efficient and pollution free Asia-Pacific”, the summit also addressed the linkages between resources efficiency and pollution reduction in the region.

On the sideline of the event, the Vietnamese minister held several bilateral meetings with ministers and deputy ministers of some countries to discuss ways to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation in fields of mutual interests.-VNA

VNA