WB Helps Build Environment Data Centre in Mekong Delta

Experts from ministries and the World Bank discussed the contents of a project on building a database serving climate change adaptation in the Mekong Delta region at a workshop in Hanoi on Oct 5. The database has an investment of nearly $14.5 million, with the World Bank providing $13.8 million in official development assistance (ODA) loan for its construction. According to Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Vo Tuan Nhan, the regional data center will collect, integrate, analyses, and store data on natural resources and environment, thus providing reliable climate change-related information for the building of sustainable development plans in the region. The center is scheduled to be complete by 2022. Addressing the workshop, WB expert Anjali Archarya, Head of the project, highlighted the significance of the database to the future of the Mekong Delta region. The center will provide scientific evidence, contributing to assisting regional authorities in restructuring agriculture, bettering the quality of water resources and infrastructure systems, and developing appropriate livelihood models, she said. The data center is part of the Mekong Delta Integrated Climate Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Project, which aims to enhance the region’s capacity to adapt to climate change by improving planning, promoting resilient rural livelihoods, and constructing climate smart infrastructure in the region. The Mekong Delta Integrated Climate Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Project, with a total investment of 384.9 million USD, comprises several components, namely data monitoring and analyzing, managing floods in the upper Delta, adapting to salinity transitions in the Delta estuary areas, protecting coastal areas in the peninsula area, among others. It will be carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and the provinces of An Giang, Kien Giang, Dong Thap, BenTre, Tra Vinh, Vinh Long, Soc Trang, Ca Mau, and Bac Lieu. (Oct 6)