The WB is always willing to assist Vietnam in climate change response and environmental protection, Benoit Bosquet, the WB's regional director for sustainable development in East Asia and Pacific, said at a meeting with Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Cong Thanh in Hanoi on December 9.

At the meeting, Benoit Bosquet praised the Vietnamese government for taking practical actions in climate change adaptation and environmental protection, adding that he believed the government and especially the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) will achieve the targets.

An overview of the meeting. Photo: Nguyen Ngan

Currently, as the WB is assisting the MONRE in developing a project named "Renewing Vietnam’s national water governance", Benoit Bosquet stressed that he would do his utmost so that the project could be successfully concluded at the soonest possible.

Regarding environmental management and protection, Benoit Bosquet said that the WB had assessed hazardous solid waste management in Vietnam with the focus on urban areas.

Besides, the WB had made a number of recommendations for Vietnam in the next phase, aiming at a building a modern, integrated and sustainable solid waste management system with reasonable costs, the regional director added.

For his part, Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh expressed his belief that Benoit Bosquet, with his extensive experience in the field of natural resources and environment, will work closely with the MONRE so that the two sides will soon identify immediate and long-term priorities.

The deputy minister acknowledged the WB's support for Vietnam and affirmed that his ministry and the WB's experts have developed a national water governance reform project, which is expected to be the final product of technical assistance and be submitted to the Vietnamese government by the end of 2020.

In terms of climate change, Thanh said that Vietnam’s policy actions committed with the WB had basically been completed.

Regarding hazardous solid waste management, he emphasized that Vietnam has committed itself to the international community to prevent the dangers of plastic waste pollution, especially ocean plastic waste.

The MONRE is one of the ministries leading the movement "Say no to plastic waste". It has also launched an emulation movement "Action to reduce plastic pollution and disposable plastic bags" among its staff.

The MONRE hopes that there will be specific cooperation with the WB in the field of solid waste management in the time ahead, the deputy minister said.