Central region reviews green growth strategy realisation
Khanh Hoa (VNA) – Nearly 100 delegates from 19 cities and provinces in the central region were brought together at a conference in Nha Trang resort city, Khanh Hoa province, on November 16-17, to review the five-year implementation of the national green growth strategy.
The strategy
was approved in 2012, requesting ministries, sectors and localities to build a
green growth action plan to apply in reality. However, so far, only 32 out of
the 63 cities and provinces and eight ministries and sectors have done this.
Nguyen Thi Minh Hien, deputy head of the Department
of Science, Education, Natural Resources and Environment under the Ministry of
Planning and Investment, said many countries are interested in developing
low-carbon green growth as it helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to
climate change, improve the quality of economic growth, change manufacturing
and consumption structure toward sustainability, and improve local living
standards.
Participants said that many localities in the central
region were unaware of the importance of the strategy, so failed to build an
action plan. Additionally, economic restructuring toward green growth is posing
a lot of challenges relating to financial resources, land and planning.
The central region needs about 15 billion USD to
invest in the field through 2020.
Deputy Director of the Binh Thuan Department of
Planning and Investment Phan Nguyen Thanh Tan said the province built a plan to
implement the green growth strategy in 2016, defining priority fields for
investment of 36 trillion VND (1.58 billion USD). However, due to the limited local
budget, the province needs capital from the central budget and businesses, he
added.
Delegates said that it is necessary to promote
green investment and have policies to mobilise public investment for projects
in addition to building a mechanism to supervise and evaluate the
implementation of the strategy.
Representatives from tourism hubs such as Thua
Thien-Hue and Khanh Hoa asked the Government to boost human resources training
and promulgate a national strategy and incentives to develop ecotourism.-VNA