This year will be a promising year for attracting international cooperation to strengthen Viet Nam’s environmental protection, experts said. Many enterprises in Viet Nam have been getting support from the EU to improve its environmental protection, according to Tran Hong Long, coordinator of a project called Cleaner Production for Better Products.
"The support aims to give ‘made in Viet Nam’ products the upper hand in quality assurance, competitive prices, and in being friendly to the environment."
HCM City would receive much more technological and financial support from foreign organisations, if calls for investment were flexible, Huynh Minh Nhut, director of the city’s Environment and Urban Company, said.
The solid waste treatment industry had been attracting lots of domestic and foreign investors and NGOs, Nhut said.
Garrette E.Clak, Department of Technology, Industry and Economic, United Nations Development Programme, said the whole world was shifting towards "green" industry and "green" products so Viet Nam would have to take on the challenge and improve environment protection.
According to Dr Nguyen Van Phuoc, deputy director of HCM City’s Department of Natural Resource and Environment, the city will receive support from South Korea for environmental management after joining the C40, a group of the world’s largest cities committed to tackling climate change.
Recently, Spain provided technological and financial support to reduce pollution of the Sai Gon River, especially the section at Tan Hiep pumping station, Phuoc said.
Nguyen Ba Vinh, who manages a project called Promoting Energy Conservation in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (PECSME), said the five-year project, which is financed by the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environment Fund, was considered one of the most important anti-pollution projects in the country.
Since 2006, more than 300 businesses in Viet Nam have cut down carbon dioxide emissions dramatically after implementing energy saving solutions devised by the project, Vinh said.
Although Viet Nam has not been specifically asked to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the government implemented the Kyoto Protocol in Viet Nam last year.
In December, Viet Nam participated in the 15th UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.
These constructive activities on environmental protection have attracted support from other countries.
For example, Australia supported Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects to reduce the GHG emissions.