Vietnam will need VND700 trillion ($40 billion) to cope with climate change, the Thoi bao Kinh te newspaper reported, citing Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dao Xuan Hoc. Deputy Minister Hoc announced the estimate at a conference in Hanoi Nov 23 and noted that the expense is beyond his country’s financial capacity, calling for international supports. The agricultural sector is the hardest hit by climate change in Vietnam, Hoc said, adding if the sea level rises by one meter, 90% of land area in Mekong Delta region and 53,000 hectares of land in central coastal Vietnam will be submerged, and 70% of land areas will become salty in dry season.
Vietnam, the world’s second rice biggest exporter, will lose 2 million of hectares of rice from climate change if it does not take measures to cope, he warned. The MARD had built a number of programs to cope with climate change in 2008-2020 which required $20 billion, Nguyen Vu Hoan from the International Cooperation Department under the MARD, stressed. The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said that Japan will help Vietnam implement projects to prevent sea rise in 23 provinces and cities. Meanwhile, the World Bank said that it has approved a loan of $215 million for Vietnam to upgrade irrigation system in Mekong Delta region.
