Former Dutch Agriculture Minister, Professor Veer Man, who is working as an advisor to the Vietnamese Government’s national target programme in response to climate change and sea level rise, made the suggestion at his meeting in Hanoi on Nov. 9 with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
PM Dung urged the Professor to quickly work with local experts to implement the plan for the Mekong delta, in order to draw lessons for the later deployment of similar plans in other parts of the country.
He appreciated Prof. Veer Man coming to work in Vietnam immediately after Vietnam and the Netherlands signed the strategic agreement, saying the professor’s presence demonstrates his respect to the two countries’ environmental cooperation.
PM Dung affirmed that the Vietnam-Netherlands traditional and friendly relations are growing and that the deployment of bilateral strategic cooperation in climate change and water resource management will be an important contribution to enhancing and expanding the two countries’ overall cooperation and friendship.
As Vietnam is among the five nations that have been forecast to suffer most from climate change and sea water rise, its government has seen it as the biggest challenge to the nation’s sustainable development and has adopted the national target programme in response to climate change and sea level rise, PM Dung said.
To implement the targets Vietnam has set for the field, PM Dung asked the Dutch professor to work closely with the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant agencies to formulate a detailed plan coupled with specific goals to execute the two countries’ strategic agreement on response to climate change and water resource management.
For his part, Prof. Veer Man underscored that he is ready to accompany Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and relevant agencies in implementing the national target programme in response to climate change and sea level rise./.
