A seminar on boosting Vietnam-France cooperation in clean water supply and environmental sanitation was held in Paris, France on Sept 7, the state-run Vietnam News Agency said late Sept 8. The event was part of a cooperation agreement between France’s Ministry for Ecology, Sustainable Planning and Development and Vietnam’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources signed in Jun 2007. The seminar focused on discussing water and environmental sanitation issues in Vietnam and sharing experiences of some French businesses when penetrating the Vietnamese market. Addressing the event, Chairman of the French Development Agency (AFD) Pierre-Andre Perissol highlighted the effective joint initiatives of water resource exploitation and sustainable use in accordance with the regulations on environmental protection. In turn, Vietnamese Ambassador to France Le Kinh Tai spoke highly of France’s assistance to the country on the issues and introduced the participants on Vietnam’s targets of clean water supply and environmental sanitation this year. Late Jul, the Vietnamese government approved the national target program on rural clean water supply and environmental sanitation for the period of 2011-2015, with total investment of more than VND54 trillion. Vietnam aims to supply clean water to 85% of its total population by the year-end. (vietnamplus.vn Sept 8, vovnews.vn Sept 9)
