Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Minister of Environmentand Natural Resources Le Cong Thanh held talks with Cuban Deputy Ministerof Science, Technology and Environment Adianez Taboada during his visit to Cubafrom September 5–9.
The visit aimed to boost cooperation in hydrometeorology,environment and circular economy between the two countries.
Thanh said the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in environment protection and climate change response that the Vietnamese Ministry of Environment andNatural Resources (MoNRE) and the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment(CITMA) signed in March 2018.
He suggested the two ministries should actively exchange to develop specific plans relevantto the new situation.
The deputy minister asked for CITMA’s support in the implementation ofscientific and technological tasks under a protocol on studying current stateof surface water and saline intrusion forecast in the Cauto River basin as abasis for recommending solutions for rice production expansion and water supplyimprovement.
The protocol is a cooperation programme between the MoNRE’sWater Resources Institute (WRI) and the CITMA’s National Institute of HydraulicResources (INRH) within the framework of the Vietnam-Cuba Inter-governmentalCommittee in economic and science-technology cooperation. The implementation ofthe programme is on track and will go on until January 2024, he informed.
For her part, Deputy Minister Adianez Taboada said CITMAhighly values the partnership with the Vietnamese ministry and that she expects thetwo sides will beef up collaboration in strengthening waste management and developingcircular economy.
She further noted that Cuba has great potential for solar powerso it wants to step up ties with Vietnam in expanding renewable energy.
The two officials agreed that in the coming time, the twoministries will consider holding technical meetings via video teleconference toexchange information and experience in potential areas of cooperation./.
