Brussels (VNA) – Vietnam and Belgium are teaming up in a new push to undo some of the nightmare damage from the Vietnam War after the Southeast Asian nation gave the green light to a major cleanup project targeting land poisoned by Agent Orange (AO).
Specifically, the Belgian Government will help Vietnam scrub dioxin, a highly toxic leftover from wartime defoliants, out of contaminated hot spots. Vietnam endorsed a consortium made up of Haemers Technologies and the Aquitara Impact Fund to get the job done, with the goal of slowly healing the environment and giving struggling local communities a better shot at life.
The partnership is being described as unprecedented, marking the first time a foreign investment fund has secured strong backing from the Vietnamese State for anything tied to war cleanup.
Central to the project is Haemers Technologies' proprietary high-temperature thermal desorption process. Contaminated soil is subjected to heat reaching up to 1,200 degrees Celsius, vaporising dioxin molecules that are then fully destroyed through controlled combustion. Once it’s done, that soil is safe enough to grow crops on or build on again.
Jan Haemers, founder and CEO of Haemers Technologies, said the project is a long-term undertaking that could span generations, with treatment costs for each site reaching hundreds of millions of EUR. But he insisted the payoff is huge: cleaned-up land could be turned into green eco-industrial zones, pumping jobs and long-term cash into areas that have been stuck in the past.
The project also carries a strong humanitarian focus, with plans to establish 150 small firms for families of AO victims living in remote and underserved areas. The approach is intended to achieve a dual goal of restoring the environment while lifting up those who’ve suffered the most.
Franc Bogovic, Co-founder and Partner of the Aquitara Impact Fund, said the project demonstrates how advanced technology, smart money moves and social responsibility can actually work together. By repurposing blighted land as an asset for development, he said, it charts a viable, long-term course that delivers value to communities and investors alike.
The project builds on a 2023 resolution by Belgium's Chamber of Representatives formally acknowledging the suffering of Vietnamese AO victims, a key step that set the stage for real action between the two countries. With international backing and Vietnamese Government’s full commitment, the project is set to slowly erase the scars of war and give the next generations something better to look forward to./.
Vietnam, US join efforts in dioxin cleanup, disability aid
Launched in 2021 across six provinces and cities, the Bien Hoa Air Base Dioxin Remediation Project has already supported more than 32,000 people with disabilities, including AO/dioxin victims, meeting over 60% of its targets. It will soon be extended to Ca Mau and Quang Ngai provinces.
