Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested the 13 Mekong Delta provinces to carry out adaptive strategies to cope with climate change.
The event discusses solutions for the critical challenges posed to the region by climate change. Prime Minister Phuc underlined the importance of the Mekong Delta, which is not only Vietnam’s largest rice bowl, but would also be the provider of high-added value agricultural sector to the region in the future. The prime minister urged Vietnam’s partners to support and act together with people in the Mekong Delta region to cope with the recent drought and salinity caused by climate change. Responding to these urgent challenges, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc asked the 13 provinces to adopt an immediate action action.
"Provinces in the Mekong Delta region should incorporate new rural objectives that can prove immediately effective. I propose to draft new criteria for rural areas ensuring suitability for each locality to cope with the on-going drought. This is an immediate task and we need reports submitted to the government in the third quarter of this year." - Prime Minister NGUYEN XUAN PHUC
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc also called on the World Bank and other international organisations to extend high preference credit and rapid disbursement, as well as provide technical assistance and expertise to improve Vietnam’s climate change adaptation capacity. He stressed the active role of the public in climate change mitigation, and the necessity to change public perceptions on the urgency of the situation.
