Norway has pledged to help Vietnam, which is listed among five countries hardest hit by climate change worldwide, to outline schemes to cope with the natural disaster, the Vietnamese government said on its website late June 14, citing Norwegian ministers. The Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Trond Giske and Minister of Environment and International Development Erik Solheim both made the commitment while receiving Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai in Oslo June 14. The Norwegian government will support Vietnam to develop the forestry sector in parallel with environment protection, Erik Solheim was quoted as saying. The Vietnamese Deputy PM proposed Norway expand its official development assistance (ODA) sources to new fields particularly climate change and clean energy. Oslo Administration has so far pledged $200 million in ODA for Hanoi, mainly in education, environment, gender equality, HIV/AIDS prevention and institution reform. Hai and Erik witnessed the signing of cooperative deals between the Hanoi National University and the Oslo University and the Norwegian Geographical Institute. Minister Trond Giske told the Vietnamese guest Norwegian businesses are interested in the aquaculture, hydropower and shipbuilding areas in the Southeast Asian nation. Deputy PM Hai and Speaker of the Norwegian Parliament Dag Terje Andersen met later on the same day with FTA negotiations and priority fields for bilateral cooperation were on top agenda of their talks. Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong, who is accompanying Hai on his five-day trip beginning June 12, worked with the Norwegian ministry of petroleum and energy on promoting cooperative projects in the field.
