Solemn opening of the ASEM Dialogue on sustainable development

The workshop is an activity to implement Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung's initiative approved at the 10th ASEM Summit, October 2014 in Italy. This is the largest ASEM activity that Vietnam is hosting this year and is co-sponsored by many participating members, including Bulgaria, Laos, Hungary, the European Union, Romania, Thailand and Slovakia.

Attending the Opening Ceremony of the Conference were Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee - Chairman of the People's Committee of Ben Tre province Vo Thanh Hao, Leaders of relevant Ministries, Departments and branches, Leaders of the Southwest Steering Committee and 13 Southwest provinces and cities.

180 delegates from ASEM members, experts from the United Nations and agencies under the United Nations, the World Bank, and regional organizations such as the International Committee for the Protection of the Danube River, the International Mekong River Commission, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and research institutes attended the Conference.

Speaking at the Workshop, Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh said that challenges in sustainable water resource management are becoming more severe and more complicated than before. Nearly 750 million people, about more than 1/10 of the world's population, do not have access to clean water, and the significant decline of many river basins is becoming increasingly severe. The risk of groundwater depletion in some large cities is becoming more serious. Rising sea levels, rising tides and increased saltwater intrusion, 80% of untreated wastewater is dumped into rivers, causing environmental pollution, affecting people's daily life, agricultural production and livelihoods. Eurasian members also have to suffer the devastating consequences of super natural disasters with unprecedented frequency, scale and scope of impact, due to climate change.

The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that this is the time for ASEM members to join hands with the international community, promoting the adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, in which one of the 17 specific goals is "ensuring the supply and sustainable management of water resources", and reaching a new global agreement on climate change in 2015, a pivotal year of action for sustainable development.

Accordingly, the Deputy Prime Minister proposed that the Workshop discuss to unify awareness and actions to ensure that water resources issues have a worthy position in the post-2015 development agenda; integrating water resource protection into each country's sustainable development strategy and balanced, equitable and creative growth; We need new thinking and a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach to sustainable water resource management, soon putting the "ASEM Specialized Cooperation Group on Sustainable and Effective Management of Water Resources" into operation, linking initiatives, projects and other specialized Cooperation Groups of ASEM. The Deputy Prime Minister also emphasized the need to exchange experiences, good examples and policy recommendations on sustainable management of water resources, including in the use and sharing of resources.In transnational countries, the ASEM Seminar is organized to exchange experiences in managing rivers in two continents; Support efforts to narrow the development gap and sub-regional and regional cooperation of ASEM members, including Mekong - Danube cooperation, replicating cooperation models between localities such as the Cooperation Project between the two provinces of Ben Tre of Vietnam and Tulcea of ​​Romania; The Deputy Prime Minister also suggested the need to establish a network to connect and share information between centers and research institutes on sustainable water resource management, and develop ASEM members to support and build capacity for developing members in water resources monitoring.

Deputy Prime Minister Pham Binh Minh affirmed that, as one of the world's leading agricultural product suppliers, Vietnam's water security is closely linked to the world's food security. Vietnam has been making efforts to promote cooperation between ASEAN countries and the International Mekong River Commission (MRC) countries in the management and sustainable use of Mekong River water resources as well as building the post-2015 development agenda. Vietnam always attaches importance and commits to increasing Strong international cooperation in water resources management associated with sustainable development. In April 2014, Vietnam became the 35th country to ratify the Convention on the Law of the Use of Transnational Water Resources for Non-Navigation Purposes, making the Convention eligible to enter into force 17 years after its completion.Yes when approved. Last April 2015, Vietnam closely coordinated with members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to pass a Resolution to promote action on water issues at the 132nd World Inter-Parliamentary Union General Assembly in Hanoi.

The Deputy Prime Minister believes that the results of the Conference will have practical and timely significance to demonstrate ASEM's positive contributions at the United Nations Summits on Sustainable Development and the 21st United Nations Summit on Climate Change (COP21) later this year.

On June 4 and 5, the Conference will have 3 discussion sessions focusing on exchanging the role of water in the post-2015 Development Agenda, practices and lessons learned in water management in Asia and Europe and building an action vision towards Asia-Europe partnerships to ensure sustainable management of water resources towards sustainable development. The workshop will approve the Report to submit to the 12th ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Luxembourg, November 2015 and the 11th ASEM Summit in Mongolia, 2016.

Source: Department of Multilateral Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs./.