QUẢNG NAM — The old city of Hội An in the central province of Quảng Nam and Naha city, the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, have come to an agreement on the third phase of the Eco-city Achievement Support Project.

The project will provide support for Hội An as an eco-tourist location with total funding of VNĐ11.2 billion (US$50,000).

Deputy Chairman of Hội An city’s people’s committee Nguyễn Văn Sơn said the third phase of the project would help train the staff on management skills and give them experience with wastewater treatment, garbage classification at source and rubbish treatment in Naha.

Sơn said the non-refundable project had helped train numerous members of staff and managers to deal with environmental problems and had provided knowledge on planning eco-tours since 2012.

He said the third phase would start from next month and last until 2018.

The UNESCO-recognised world heritage city, in co-operation with Japan International Co-operation Agency, has been preparing the groundwork for a US$11.2 million waste treatment project.

The project will help treat 2,000 cubic metres of wastewater per day and is scheduled to be put into operation in 2017.

Covering an area of 60sq.km, the tourism hub city has developed 22.5sq.km with agriculture and forests and 11sq.km with lakes and channels.

In 2014, the city’s Hoài River and its channels featured in the list of the 10 most famous canals in the world, produced by US-based travel website touropia.com.

The city was chosen for the 2013 Townscape Award by the UN-Habitat Regional Office in Asia and was listed among the top 10 Asian cities in US magazine Conde Nast’s Traveler’s Readers Choice Awards in 2012.

Last year, Hội An hosted more than 2.1 million tourists, of which, 1 million were foreigners. — VNS