HÀ NỘI — A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a master plan on improving the sewerage system in the central province of Hà Tĩnh was signed between Việt Nam and South Korea on Monday.

The signing ceremony was part of an environmental forum held between environmental leaders of the two countries on Monday in Hà Nội.

The MoU was signed between Đặng Ngọc Sơn, vice chairman of the Hà Tĩnh Province’s People’s Committee and Nam Kwang Hee, president of the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute (KEITI).

It expressed the two parties’ intention to improve the quality of Hà Tĩnh Province’s sewerage system and river water, with a focus on Hà Tĩnh City, Hồng Lĩnh and Kỳ Anh towns, and Thái Yên Commune in the province.

A master plan on rehabilitating the current public sewerage system in the central province will be developed from now until May 2019.

It costs some US$0.6 million, which will be sponsored by the South Korean Ministry of Environment.

In the process of developing the master plan, some cooperative projects such as site survey and diagnosis and demand estimation will be run between South Korean environmental companies and Hà Tĩnh’s authorities.

The master plan will be established by areas and phases based on the results from these projects.

Speaking at the forum, a representative from KEITI identified Hà Tĩnh Province’s demands for an improved sewerage and drainage system.

“The province is getting urbanised in areas where modern sewerage systems have not been built, so the current public sewerage system should be improved and expanded for a sustainable development,” he said.

The aftermath of the environmental disaster occurring in the Vũng Áng Beach in 2016 that killed thousands of fish and affected the neighbouring provinces also calls for strong efforts to preserve water resources in the province, he added. 

The development of the master plan is one of several collaborative efforts between Việt Nam and South Korea in the environmental field, said Trần Hồng Hà, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) at the forum.

Hà thanked South Korean Minister of Environment Kim Eunkyung for the practical support in terms of developing human resources, improving management capacity, and researching and applying environmental technologies.

“During the high-level visit of South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Việt Nam in March, leaders of the two countries agreed that our co-operation in environmental protection is contributing to the sustainable development goals of the international community,” he said.

“Minister Kim Eunkyung and I have agreed to be the pioneers in actualising the environmental agreements made between the South Korean and Vietnamese presidents,” he said. — VNS