Vietnamplus

Vietnam and Norway issued a joint statement on the official visit to Norway by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc as well as agreements reached by the countries’ leaders during the visit.

An official visit to Norway by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his spouse looks to boost the traditional friendship and multi-dimensional cooperation, especially trade and investment, between the two countries.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a consultation seminar in the central province of Quang Tri on April 19 to discuss refining mechanisms on feedback and dealing with complaints under the Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) for the 2018-2025 period.

The second stage of the United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD) has benefited over 6,000 residents in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai.

The south central coastal province of Binh Thuan is implementing the United Nations’ “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” (UN-REDD) project funded by the Norwegian Government in 41 communes of seven districts.

The forestry sector is playing an increasingly important role in Vietnam’s economy, according to a forestry expert.

Vietnam has set up a fully integrated forestry information database under a project funded by the Finnish Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) said at a recent conference in Hanoi.

Vietnam wants to promote social forestry among member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to create favourable conditions for the involvement of private and non-governmental organisations, community and people in forestry activities, said a local official.

The Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang will carry out an action programme for sustainable forest management in its three coastal districts under the project “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” (REDD+).

The World Bank (WB)’s Carbon Finance Unit approved a resolution on supporting the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) programme in central Vietnam in line with the results-based payments at a meeting in Paris on February 1.

Vietnam has collected nearly 1.1 trillion VND (48.4 million USD) from forest environment service fees from water suppliers, hydropower companies and tourist agencies.

A conference was held in Hanoi on September 27 to collect final ideas to complete the Emissions Reductions Program Document (ER-PD) in the northern central region.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) will continue accompanying Vietnam and supporting the country to implement underway programmes and projects, Assistant Director-General and FAO Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific Kundhavi Kadiresan has said.

A workshop discussing a project on strengthening non-State sectors’ (NSAs) voices for improved forest governance in the Mekong region took place in Hanoi on August 16.

MARD announced the National REDD+ Action Programme, which aims to increase forest cover to 45 percent of national territory and contribute to an 8 percent reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030

Measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission were the focus of a workshop held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Japan International Cooperation Agency on March 1. ​

Norway supports the move towards closer regional cooperation in Asia, said Børge Brende, Foreign Minister of Norway in his recent article.

Norway, as a member of the European Free Trade Association, has given priority to negotiating free trade agreements with a number of Asian countries, including Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Vietnam.

An action plan for implementing the green growth strategy funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was unveiled in the central province of Thanh Hoa on August 4.

Binh Thuan province on July 26 announced an action plan in realisation of the “Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” (REDD+) initiative for the 2016-2020 period.