Vietnam attended the 15th Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment (IAMME) and the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution held in Vientiane, Laos, on October 30-31.

The Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Bui Cach Tuyen made active contributions to the events which focused on the implementation of collaboration activities in environmental protection, that were outlined in a master plan building the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, as well as initiatives to enhance future cooperation.

Ministers hailed member states’ efforts in finalising the ASEAN Peatland Forests Project in 2009-2014, and implementing effectively the ASEAN Peatland Management St rategy in 2006-2020 and the EU-funded Rehabilitation and Sustainable Use of Peatland Forests in Southeast Asia (SEApeat) project.

Vietnam’s central imperial city of H u e was granted with the ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable City title, while Da Lat resort city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong received the ASEAN certificate of recogniton for clean air.

The 13th ASEAN+3 Environment Ministers’ Meeting (with partners from China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea), and the fourth East Asia Summit Environment Ministers’ Meeting were also held in Vientiane to discuss cooperation in the field of biodiversity, climate change, environment education and technology, and building of environmetnally sustainable cities.

Vietnam will host the 13th AMME and the 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2015.-VNA