Online conference on the environment held

The conference also aims to gather input for a draft of the Prime Minister’s orders on strengthening environmental protection efforts.

The PM stressed that recently, the violation of environmental laws and other environmental issues have raised concerns in society. The situation is the result of many years of development. The PM said this would hinder Vietnam’s development and emphasised that development must go hand in hand with protecting the environment. That’s is the reason why the PM held the conference – to raise awareness on the current situation as well as to explore solutions to these problems.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said: "We have to assess the environmental situation carefully and accurately to better recognize the problems. Secondly, we need to focus on improving State management, whose performance has caused environmental issues. If an official approved a project that led to problems, we need to make clear what his or her responsibilities are. Leaders of ministries and other levels of authority also need to take more responsibility in their work".

PM Phuc urged Provincial Party Committees and People’s Committees attending the event to report everything truthfully, and propose possible solutions to protect the environment and people’s well being. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment released that there are 283 industrial zones in Vietnam producing over half a million litres of wastewater every day. There are also 615 industrial clusters of which only 5% have wastewater processing facilities. In addition, there are 787 urban centres producing three million litres of unprocessed wastewater daily.