Holland to Fund EUR9M for Vietnam Environment Project

The Dutch government plans to fund EUR9 million in aid for a project on water source management, response to climate change and agriculture development in Vietnam, the Ha Noi Moi newspaper reported July 27. This is part of a program on the Netherlands Initiative for Capacity Development in Higher Education (NICHE) that will provide teaching materials and methodologies for Vietnamese universities, focusing on agriculture, water resource management and climate change. Under the NICHE, Dutch Ambassador to Vietnam Joop Scheffers and Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Bich Dat signed in Hanoi on Jul 9 an agreement to fund EUR18 million for Vietnam to improve tertiary education quality in the next four years. Vietnam is listed among five hardest-hit countries by climate change. If sea level rises one meter, 5% of Vietnam’s land, 11% of its population and 7% of its agricultural land would be affected with the loss estimated at 10% of GDP.