Hydro-meteorological cooperation with China essential
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Chu Pham Ngoc Hien called for continued cooperation and information sharing with China in the hydro-meteorological field, with the focus on the works at border areas.
 |
At a working session between the ministry and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence in Hanoi on May 24, he assigned the Department of Water Resources to study the Red River planning and ask for China’s provision of hydro-meteorological information for the upper course of the river.
He requested the Department of International Cooperation to work with the offices involved to propose specific contents before conducting negotiations and information sharing with China.
According to Nguyen Van Tue, head of the Department of Hydro-meteorology and Climate Change; from October 10-12, 2015, unexpected floods from Chinese rivers flowing down into Vietnam showed the passivity of forecasting agencies in providing warnings related to cross-border rivers, thus making the response of Vietnamese localities more difficult.
Therefore, to actively respond to floods related to cross-border rivers, on October 21, 2015, the Central Steering Committee on Disaster Prevention and Control sent an official dispatch requesting the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare negotiation contents to exchange with the Chinese side.
Based on proposals of the MoNRE, on January 19, a representative from the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi announced that China was willing to cooperate with Vietnam in sharing hydro-meteorological information and wanted to receive information about several big and important reservoirs along the Red River basin.