Italy provides funds for water project
HA NOI — A project entitled Integrated and Sustainable Water Management of the Hong (Red)-Thai Binh river system in a Changing Climate will be implemented over three years with funding of 1.7 million euro (more than US$2.2 million).
The project is being funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Technical University of Milan and the Institute of Water Resources Planning under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
It is aimed at addressing issues regarding water allocation and distribution among various public and private sectors, contributing to meeting Viet Nam's long-terms needs for water resources, maintaining essential ecological services and improving the economic benefits of hydropower production and agriculture.
The project is the follow-up to an existing collaboration between the Technical University of Milan and the Institute of Water Resources Planning that dates back to 2007.
According to the institute, the Red River basin originates in China and flows into the East Sea covering an area of 169,000 square kilometres, of which Viet Nam occupies more than 51 per cent.
The area includes land in Ha Noi and 25 other provinces in the North with a population of 26 million people and total agricultural area of nearly 1.1 million hectares.
According to Rodolfo Soncini-Sessa of the Technical University of Milan, the development of an integrated planning and management model of the river system and the design of a set of regulations and policies for the system as well as training for staff at the Institute of Water Resources Planning were among the project's goals. — VNS