HÀ NỘI — The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) will provide technical assistance worth US$914,000 for a project to improve Việt Nam’s capacity for water environment management.

Under the project, which was launched by the Việt Nam Environment Administration (VEA), JICA and the Japan-based Optex Company Limited on Tuesday, simple water monitoring devices will be installed at 54 points in the Cầu River basin which which includes Bắc Kạn, Thái Nguyên, Bắc Ninh, Bắc Giang, Vĩnh Phúc and Hải Dương provinces and Hà Nội.

The project will be carried out from this month to September next year.

VEA Deputy Director Nguyễn Hưng Thịnh said that environment monitoring had been maintained in Việt Nam since 1994, and had played an increasing role in environmental protection and management in the country. 

He stressed the importance of enhancing monitoring in river basins as socio-economic development exerted pressure on water resources.

Daisuke Okabe, a representative from the Japanese Embassy in Việt Nam, said the Cầu River basin was suffering from serious pollution, but the equipment that had been installed, which was able to collect data easily at a low cost, was expected to assist with the control of water quality in the basin. 

Koji Takauchi, a senior consultant at JICA, believed the project would solve water quality issues in the country's river basins based on projects that had been successfully applied in Japan. — VNS