JICA Supports Natural Resource Management in Vietnam

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will assist Vietnam in a sustainable natural resource management project until 2020. Under the project inked in Hanoi on July 9 by JICA Vietnam’s Chief Representative Mutsuya Mori and Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development Deputy Minister Ha Cong Tuan, JICA will cover technical assistance until 2020. The project includes four components namely policy assistance, sustainable forest management, biodiversity, and information sharing on sustainable natural resource management. The project is part of Vietnam’s efforts to raise the forest coverage to 45% by 2020, helping improve livelihood of people in rural and mountainous areas. The project will be conducted in four northern provinces of Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Son La and Hoa Binh, and the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. JICA has supported a five-year project for sustainable forest management in the northwest watershed area (SUSFORM-NOW) that will last until August 2015 in the northern mountainous province of Dien Bien. Japanese companies working in Vietnam, including Canon, Honda, Oji Group and Tokura, have joined afforestation projects in the country for years. (Thoi Bao Ngan Hang – Banking Times July 10 p2, Baochinhphu.vn July 9)